Slither Dither

@singout (980)
United States
August 31, 2008 9:50pm CST
I've been sitting here watching a documentary about snake bites and human reaction to them. It started off with a study of the Stilleto snake. I've never seen or heard of that snake before. This, of course, led me to a possible discussion. What is the closest you have come to being bitten by a snake? Or do you know anyone who was ever bitten by a snake? How did you react? My closest encounter was when I went fishing from the bank. I was trying to make my way through some thick brush to get to the water when I looked down just in time to see my foot come down upon a snake. My foot might as well have stepped on a powerful spring because that is how fast my foot came off that snake. From then on, both my feet had springs on them as I ran as fast as I could. After experiencing chills that would have frozen a steak, I never looked back. Futhermore, I never went back.
5 people like this
10 responses
@sunnflr (2767)
• United States
1 Sep 08
I am deathly afriad of snakes and I think the reason is because we had so many in our yard when we were younger. The closest I've came to one personally is about two feet. One was crossing a hiking path we were walking on about five years ago now.
@singout (980)
• United States
1 Sep 08
Thanks for your response sunnflr. That's two feet too close for me. I was wondering though, Did you get chills up and down your spine when you first saw it? I know I Did. Do you live near a river or a body of water of some kind? BTW, is that hurricane affecting you?
2 people like this
@sunnflr (2767)
• United States
1 Sep 08
I get chills, can't breathe good, and shake uncontrolably when I see a snake. I also cry sometimes. I can't even watch them on television. No, we don't live close to water, but we do alot of hiking and have to be on the look out for snakes. When I was small we lived close to a little creek. I think that's where the snakes came from. We are under a thunderstrom watch, but only had few sprinkles from the storm here so far.
2 people like this
@singout (980)
• United States
2 Sep 08
You can't even watch them on television? Wow! Now that is what I called being afraid of snakes! The chills were the thing that I noticed the most. They lasted about 2 hours.
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
1 Sep 08
Ah, snakes! They're practically everywhere, you know. I know a lot of people who are deathly afraid of them... phobic. I'm not, but I have a healthy respect for them! We have snakes where we live. I've been told that we have snakes in our lake and I believe I've even seen one swimming. But that won't make me stop fishing! (Well, that's easy to say since I have a deck overhanging the lake to fish from!) I used to fish at a river from the bank. I've come close to a few snakes. Close enough that I saw the leaves moving where I heard the sound coming from. But, knowing that they're just about as afraid of me as I am of them, I didn't move, much. I did move to a clearer area with less leaves, though! It's the spiders that get to me! Having been bitten by a brown recluse and getting blood poisoning almost immediately, I have a REAL fear of them! I make sure I always have plenty of OFF with me! P.S. I have to tell you that I had a really good laugh picturing you with your 'spring feet' hightailing it outta there!
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
1 Sep 08
Yes, they sure are! I was lucky (????) in that I got blood poisoning right away and was rushed to the hospital and put on antibiotics immediately. Otherwise, I'd have suffered what most people suffer with brown recluse spider bites... tissue necrosis!
2 people like this
@singout (980)
• United States
1 Sep 08
The show I was watching also dealt with the bite of the Brown Recluse. I can't believe it! You were actually bitten by a brown recluse? From what I saw on TV it was a very ugly scene. Did it leave any scars? That guy had some very ugly scars from where they had removed about 1/2 inch of tissue in a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Just the thought of those things scare me worse than snakes. How lucky you are to live with a deck over a lake. I would be in hog heaven if I had something like that. I tell you one thing; it wasn't funny at the time. I was very serious about moving on. When you have an incentive like that, you can cover a lot of ground in a very short time. Thanks for responding, my friend. BTW I'm going to send you a PM with a link to a story about snakes which should give you a good laugh.
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
2 Sep 08
First, let me thank you for that hysterically funny but sad story! Man! Those poor guys! Since they weren't REALLY hurt, I had to laugh. Now, when I think I'm having a bad day, I'll just remember that story and won't complain! Thanks for sharing! Second, yep, it was a brown recluse, at least that's what the doctors told me. I didn't suffer any tissue necrosis since I was in the hospital within hours of being bitten. It takes, I believe, a few days to a week before necrosis actually sets in after the bite. Before that, it's just the swelling and redness that are so bad. It was a horrible experience, nonetheless. The red streak up my arm began within hours and I was in the hospital where they gave me a tetanus shot (which I had an allergic reaction to) and put me on antibiotics, then sent me home. Within 6 more hours, I couldn't move anymore (from the blood poisoning... your muscles/joints get very stiff) and my temp. was up to 105 deg. Back at the hospital, I was put on IV antibiotics while a venom specialist was brought in. They have to give me some other kind of anti-toxin since I couldn't handle the tetanus vaccine. That's probably what saved me from losing a lot of flesh from that bite! I have a little scar, but it's only about 1/8" in diameter. Now, third, you might be in hog heaven if you had my deck and lake, but I want your boat!!! All I have is a rubber thing you blow up. Okay, it's a NICE rubber thing you blow up, but it's rubber, just the same. I want a real boat!!! One of these days... then I'll be heading out to the James River for some REAL fishing. Oh, we have a lot of bullfrogs here, too.
• United States
1 Sep 08
I once saw a photograph of a snake that had eaten an entire goat. This snake was sitting on the road, full of goat. For some reason, that photo really disgusted me. I think that the snake was too full to even move and it just sat there, full of goat. I am a lover of creation, but it is very difficult for me to love snakes. I respect them and recognize their right to live, but I do not like them. I guess I feel about them in much the same way that I feel about a certain political party in these United States. And yes, those guys are real snakes who regularly bite the good citizens of this beloved country.
2 people like this
• India
2 Sep 08
snakes are one of the reptile species. they are very docile until and unless provoked by others. out of the so many snakes, very few are poisonous. they do not generally come into urban human settlements. if they come, the might be chasing a rat or a frog which brings them there. otherwise they are very cool customers. snakes are not found in new zealand and ireland..
@singout (980)
• United States
2 Sep 08
I agree, they are not out to hurt humans. Usually they are just trying to find something to eat. Unfortunately though, encounters of snakes with humans don't usually turn out well for the snake. But sometimes the snake wins, though. That's what gives them such a bad reputation. The fact that there are no snakes in Ireland and New Zealand, as you say, is something I did not know and I dare say many other people did not know. Thanks for the response, painkiller77.
@mymelodake (1338)
• Philippines
5 Sep 08
well i wouldn't say that i was close to being bitten, but when my family first moved into the house we're living in, my dad found a snake under the couch he was taking a nap on! i don't know what kind of snake it was, but it was yellowish green. i don't remember the exact details, but the couch had to be turned over so the snake can be removed and gotten rid of. it was scary. we had one more snake encounter inside the house, it was a black one this time. apart from these two incidents, we never had snake "break-ins" anymore. there was 1 or maybe 2 more snake incidents in our backyard, but none in the recent years.... on time, we were wondering why our little dog was sitting under our backyard tree and she seemed to be looking up at something and it turned out to be a snake!
1 person likes this
@singout (980)
• United States
5 Sep 08
Great story! Thanks for sharing it.
• United States
23 Sep 08
singout, You did it again. I personally don't care, like, nor want a snake or anything that crawls,flys, or anything else that can creep me out near me. That is one of the reasons I didn't care for the state of Florida. Alligators walking the streets, and dodging flying bats out of trees. Huge roaches clinging to the screen doors, snakes in my yard. And all kinds of bugs everywhere crawling on me. No thanks. I get the goose pumps and don't want any part of them. (ha,ha) I do love the story that you have on your web site about fishing with snakes falling into the boat. That was the funnest story I've ever read. Oh yeah, I was just about to put my hand into an old Army bag, which belonged to my brother, when at the last second I decided not to do that. So I shook the bag upside down and out fell a scorpion. I screamed my head off.
@singout (980)
• United States
23 Sep 08
That was a great story cyclegmom. I can understand how you would hate things like you mentioned. I don't think Florida has things like alligators walking the streets everywhere. Maybe occasionally, especially when it has rained for several days. Thanks for the response.
@buldwgz (1489)
• United States
31 Oct 08
Several years ago I was fishing with my father and my younger brother. I knew that there were snakes around, so I, as well as my dad and brother, were wearing snake boots and had a variety of weapons with which to deal with the snakes, if we happened upon any. As I was fishing, my brother told me that there was a snake behind me. He knew that I am terrified of them and I knew that he was messing with me. My dad was on the other side of the pond in which we were fishing, but he could hear and sea us just fine. My brother kept messing with me and I kept telling him to leave me alone. After a few moments I felt something hit my leg,and my boot. I looked down to my horror and found that my brother was not joking. Indeed, there was a snake that had struck my boot and even more horrifically was still trying to get through my boot. Thankfully the boot did serve its function well. I lifted my leg and the snake held on. I took the machete that I had brought and quickly severed the snakes head. My dad was actually laughing by this time because of the scream that I had let out. I am sure that I sounded like a woman by this time. I quickly ran home, and other than one shark fishing excursion recently, have not returned to fishing. The snake was a water moccasin about 4 feet long and very big around,and very poisonous. I consider myself lucky and am very, very glad that the boots did their job.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
1 Sep 08
hi singout my only experience was one time when I was a kid fishing and I got a snake on the end of my pole. I was so shocked I threw the pole and the snake a good ten feet from me'and my grandad had to take the snake off the hook. I never knew I could run that fast before. No way was I going to touch that snake, no way Jose.
@singout (980)
• United States
1 Sep 08
Been there! Done that! As you can see from my post. LOL I know exactly how you felt. But did you get the chills up and down your spine? No one seems to mention whether or not they got the chills. Thanks for the response, Hatley
• Philippines
2 Sep 08
Good day.. I've come close to a snake well, decades ago. I was 10 or 11 then, I went to a river bank to catch fish not for me but for my pet fish that also eats smaller fish. I came to a bamboo tree when I noticed that there was a golden brown snake all whirled up and maybe waiting for a prey or something. It was in the afternoon. I was stunned because I was just a 2 feet away from it. I slowly move back of course still acing it and ran. I never went back to that place again.
@singout (980)
• United States
2 Sep 08
I can certainly understand why you didn't go back. It's the snake that surprises you that you remember the most isn't it? Thanks for the response.
@planejane (188)
1 Sep 08
I've only ever seen snakes in zoos. I don't think that I've ever seen a real, live snake before unless it's been behind glass. Unless you're also counting bed snakes. I've had my share of these and they're not bad at all. ;)
@singout (980)
• United States
1 Sep 08
BED SNAKES?!!!!!! Boy, does that ever conjure up unusual mental images! ROTFL. Thanks, I needed that. I hope you never see one in the wild considering you've never seen one anywhere other than the zoo. Thanks for the great response.