Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is the SE drought affecting snake behavior? I ask because this weekend two people got bitten by copperheads in the Ocoee, Hiwassee rivers area of TN.

From a boating forum:

"Some people from the Huntsville Canoe Club were paddling the H this weekend and my buddy Matt paddle ahead through the rapid after lunch stop in order to snap a few photos. He was holding on to a rock with his left hand and snapping photos with his right. After a few minutes he felt a pain in his left hand and looked down to see a snake attatched to his ring finger. The snake let go and darted into some leaves so he grabbed the paddle and smacked the leaves to expose the snake. He recognized it as a copperhead and let the group know what happened.

They made the decision to paddle to the takeout without making any stops and to keep his hand in the cold H water as long as possible to slow down the swelling. By the time they got to the takeout his hand/forearm were described as "loooking like shrek". They hauled ass to the Cleveland ER where they gave him anti-venom and an IV and then the Dr. made a decision to transport him (not sure if it was ambulance or airlift), to the Chattanooga hospital because they were better equipped to handle this. I talked to Matt's wife last night and they were going to be holding him a 2nd night and expected him to be released today. She says everything seems to be going well and the swelling has dropped down a lot. She said the bite area looks disgusting and is black and bubbled up. Luckily he had removed his wedding ring before they started paddling or it would have been cut off at the ER.

Anyway, I havent boated since Dec., but I thought it was a good story to share. Matt seems to be in good spirits and he swears he will be ready to paddle again this weekend. "

And:

"A girl was bitten by a copperhead at Thunder Rock Campground (on the Ocoee). She tripped and grabbed for a stick when falling only to find out the stick was a snake. Evaced to local hospital where they didn't have enough anti-venom, was helied to another hospital."

Weather aside, a good rule of (badly swollen) thumb is that when you grab ahold of a copperhead or jam your hand into its face, it's very likely to tag you.
Dry weather may cause some snakes to prowl greater distances, but in my experience most don't change their behavior all that much. Copperheads pretty traditionally lie around waiting for food to come by, no matter how much rain there is.

Well yes, I agree that the best policy is not to handle snakes. However I thought since there were two bites in the same area that this might not be coincidental and that maybe the snakes were coming to the river for water since there has been a drought.

BTW the Hiwassee is one of the snakiest rivers I've ever been on. I see snakes every time I go there, but they've always been banded water snakes or queen snakes... while I've seen copperheads as roadkill on the shuttle up to the put-in, and one rattlesnake at a picnicing area, finding a copperhead on a rock in the river is not something I've encountered.

If there are areas where snakes may drink further from the river that are now dried up, they may well be coming to the river to drink. Also, they will often drink rainwater from leaves or from water trapped by the coils of their own body. With no rain, they must find other sources.

That fellow would have lost his finger if he had not removed the ring.

Always look before placing your hand on a rock or tree limb when in snake country, regardless of the weather conditions. You can blame the weather if you want to, but bottom line is that proper safety precautions were not taken by the victims.

~~Greg~~

"Always look before placing your hand on a rock or tree limb when in snake country, regardless of the weather conditions. You can blame the weather if you want to, but bottom line is that proper safety precautions were not taken by the victims. "

Well, you are right. Neither should have put their hands somewhere without looking first. I'm not blaming the weather, either. I just wondered if the drought might make the snakes congregate more around the riverbanks.

link below, nasty looking bite...
http://www.whnt.com/Global/story.asp?S=6617539&Cal