WILSON COUNTY NEWS (Floresville, Texas) 26 December 06 Copperhead finds shelter from cold under doghouse
Photo at URL below: Joe Martin holds the young copperhead captured recently by David Sutherland in La Vernia. Martin, a professional snake handler, is always interested in obtaining poisonous reptiles for his business, Joe Martin’s Snakes of Texas. (Nell Sutherland)
La Vernia: When David Sutherland moved a doghouse last week at the family home in Lost Trails, he found an unexpected tenant. A drowsy copperhead, a youngster with the characteristic green tip on its tail, was sheltering from the cool temperatures.
Loath to kill something that did not threaten his — or the dogs’ — well-being, Sutherland scooped it up with a shovel into an empty garbage can. He remembered a conversation he had several years ago at the Stockdale Watermelon Jubilee with Joe Martin of the South Texas Snake Handlers. Martin learned that the Sutherlands lived in “copperhead country” and asked that they call him if they found copperheads or coral snakes. He had sources for rattlesnakes, but other poisonous reptiles were hard to find.
Dangerous snakes usually encounter a sharp hoe or other lethal weapon in the sandhills. But Sutherland’s mother was sympathetic to the little reptile’s plight, and provided Martin’s contact number.
A professional snake handler, Martin gives safety and educational presentations as Joe Martin’s Snakes of Texas. He started the organization in 1985 as South Texas Snake Handlers, but soon learned that the “snake handlers” tended to be just him. He travels extensively across the country giving exciting educational programs. Recent trips he has taken include Michigan and Rome, Italy.
Most folks think that snakes hibernate in the winter. Martin says they become less active, sluggish, and almost somnolent, in cold weather. But on warm winter days, snakes are active.
Martin reminds folks that snakes are our best rodent control. So be alert, he advises, but don’t subscribe to the notion that “the only good snake is a dead snake.”
If you encounter a reptile that you can safely catch and contain, call Martin at 210-413-7285. His home is in the Kicaster area, so he is frequently available to remove the reptile from your premises.
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