GREENVILLE NEWS (N Carolina) 23 June 08 Snake encounters, bites, on increase - Greenville ER sees spike in number of venomous bites in Upstate (Scott Keepfer)
Last month, Bill Adams and his son, Dan, encountered five snakes during a six-day jaunt on the Foothills Trail, including a timber rattlesnake that didn't want to surrender the comfortable "sunning" position it had assumed across the middle of the pathway.
"We didn't want to hurt the snake and we didn't want the snake to hurt us -- we just wanted it out of the way so we could continue on," Adams said.
Dan plunked the snake with a small rock, prompting it to coil and begin rattling. Bill then proceeded to flip the snake -- which he described as "lethargic" -- several times with a long tree branch until it was off the trail.
Last week, Brent Davis of the Blue Ridge community in northern Greenville County was bitten by what he believed was a copperhead while loading lumber. Other than some anxious moments and a sore toe, Davis emerged unscathed and a bit wiser.
In the month prior to June 6, the emergency room staff at Greenville Memorial Hospital treated nine patients for snakebites -- more than three times the normal number for that time period.
Welcome to snake season.
"Snakes are active right now," said Pendleton's John Garton, an amateur herpetologist who cares for snakes at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) office in Clemson. "For the most part, the peak of mating season is over, but they're feeding and many are probably getting ready to shed their skin for the first time. And females are behaving in ways that are going to help their babies grow, which means sunning themselves a lot."
And that means that we're seeing and encountering them a lot. These sun lovers include common garter and water snakes as well as timber rattlesnakes and copperheads, the latter two of which are the only venomous snakes present in the Upstate, Garton said.
Contrary to popular belief, there are no water moccasins, or "cottonmouths," locally. Edgefield and Aiken counties are the closest that these snakes have been found.
Cottonmouths are most often confused with water snakes, which are regular sights along creek and river corridors and lake shorelines. Water snakes may appear ominous due to their coloration and also have a tendency to be ill-tempered, but they are not venomous.
Rattlesnakes, which prefer high and dry mountain locales, and copperheads, which typically reside near creeks, laurel thickets and rock piles, are generally not aggressive and will seldom strike or bite unless provoked, grabbed or stepped on.
Common backyard snakes include black rat snakes, which help keep mice and rat populations in check, garter snakes and kingsnakes.
"Snakes are our friends," said Steve Bennett, herpetologist for the DNR. "Many species have a voracious appetite for small rodents, rats and mice. In fact, the species most commonly found around people's homes the rat snake is probably there looking for mice and rats."
Bennett says that if you encounter a snake, simply step away from it and alter your course. Given the opportunity, almost all snakes will go out of their way to avoid interaction with humans.
Homeowners can take steps to minimize the occurrence of snake encounters on their property, Bennett said, by keeping grass and other vegetation mowed or cut-back, and eliminating any accumulation of trash, debris, rocks, and decaying wood piles that snakes might find as suitable habitat, cover or shelter.
According to the DNR, more than half of U.S. snakebite victims were bitten while handling the snake, and more than two-thirds saw the snake before being bitten, but attempted to kill, capture or harass it.
Snake encounters, bites, on increase