After talking to Kirk and some others at the pig roast I realize that some do not have the hazzards in sawing as we do down south. Ticks and chiggers are a plenty down here but they are not the only things that bite. Yesterday me and this cotton mouth was taking up the same space between two logs. It was not big enough for the both of us so I kicked him out in the open and did what the Bible said to do and bruised his head. 37 inches of cranky.
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Today at a different place Sam kicked up the darker copper head out of some leaves and cleared the sawing area of help. So I would be able to get some work done I did what the Bible said to do. Just got settled down and sawing again when this lighter copper head came out to see what was going on. Once again no help and the Bible came into play.
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The darker one was 23 inches and the ligher one 22 inches. This photo was taken before the Bible was opened and it took some talking to get someone to shoot a photo.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/DSC00800f.JPG)
So when sawing down south watch your step.
ARKANSAWYER
:oNot to mention the ones that dangle from the trees and jump down when you cut the tree down. :o :o
Well the 37 incher was not to small but the other two were just wee babies and hardly worth a mention. ;D ;D
What gets to me is when bucking some logs and as the end drops off so does a copperhead out of the hollar center. I have cut snakes right in half before. I know what I have done when I see blood coming out around the chain and bar.
Snakes, rats the size of small cats, yellow jackets, and whatever that big red wasp is called.
ARKY you putten them on the BARBIE Q ???
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This bird was killed here see the mill in the background? 8) 8)
My huff wheel loader is in the background also....also pictured is my daughter/sawyer
never know what youll come up with eh???
snakes arnt much of a problem here even further south than south. most of them you just get a glimps of.
its the bull ants and fire ants that each you alive before you can take your first step out of there. O and the od thunelweb spider, mossies that sound like B52's and migies that you cant even see.
Arky, you must be what they mean when they say "he's a bible thumper" :D
shopteacher, you musta been chasing that dang dog a looong time, coming sneakin back in here like that and all. :)
tis good to see you back and that's a fact. been real hard on me not havin you and dang to edge me on now and again 8) 8) 8)
We have upset grizzlies, ornery Wolverines, cranky moose(very dangerous) and at least I can see them commin. You can keep the snakes, they give me the eeeebyjeebys :o
Percy,
After your post my little copperheads don't seem to bad. :o
Getting the time of year when you have to watch out for 'rasslers. They will rattle some times before they mess up your week. Last year I got two 47 inchers and one 49 that had 11 rattles and a button. I have been biten 3 times but never when sawing. I guess it is a good thing I live in the Bible Belt. ;D Once while sawing I had a copper come out of a crack in the butt of the log. My son SCREAMED Snake as he left the AO. Good thing that they can not make good time in sawdust and there was aplenty of it that day. Cant hooks work well on snakes for the brusing the head part. Wasp, yellow jackets, scorpions, snakes and such keep us Southern Sawyers on our toes most of the year. Maybe I need hazzard duty pay?
ARKANSAWYER
Scorpions and poisonous snakes mean I'll never be a southern sawyer. We've got wasps and yeller jackets but only for a 4 months and I've never even seen one of our Massasauga rattlers
Only Missasauga rattlers around here seem to stay in the peat moss bogs about 20 miles from here. Sure puts the boys off the bagger when one comes down the shut. :o :D :D :D
They are rare here.
know all about the scorpions. i usually get hit about 4-5 times year. doing good so far this year, only been stung twice so far. LeeB
Growing up here in Florida, I was taught, "if you ain't gunna eat it...don't kill it". :D Here's two I didn't feel like eating that day.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/snake1.jpg)
Pigmy rattle snake. Small but deadly
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/snake3.jpg)
4 foot Eastern Diamond Back. Taste like chicken!
When the fur prices fell to the bottom, the coon and possum population has risen very high. Which brings the rabies at a all time high. Four years ago, some of are highly brain personals decided that if they would bring in timber rattles at the one state park by me, they would control the coon and possum population. Now we have an over populated snake. ::)
Maybe I should mension to our higher above to bring in moose, bears and wolverines to take care of our snake problem. ;D
EZ
I think wild turkeys take care of a lot of snakes in our area. I've seem free ranging tame turkeys catch a snake in the open and work them over until there is nothing left but a skeleton. :-X
It's been years since I've seen a rattle snake and the only other snakes I see are mostly copper heads when I turn over the last slab in a pile or lift a bundle of lunber that's been setting awhile.
I did see a cottonmouth down at the creek a couple of weeks past but that's the first snake I've seen "in the wild" in quite some time.
They also have cut down the number of ground nesting birds like quail.
After reading this thread I gonna sharpen all my spade shovels. :o :o
I hate snakes, and there aren't any poisnous ones by us. The only mean looking one is the pine snake which can get 6 to 8' long.
Jason
Yesterday I had some farm chores that required me to quit at the mill early. I suggested to my son Tom that if he needed something to do, he could weed-eat around the scragg mill and edger. I think he decided to watch the olympics instead.
This morning ,first thing, we started to edge what we had sawed Saturday. I was just getting ready to put the first board through when I saw something move in the weeds by my foot. It was a fairly good sized copperhead. After dispatching it, my son offered to cut the weeds right then. I told him we'd go ahead and edge, but it would probably be a good idea to cut them before we edge tomorrow.
I'm about ready to return to the mill now having fed my face and rested my bones. I'll bet when I get back, the edger area will be all cleaned up ;D
Funny how short and steep the learning curve gets when helped along with some OJT, eh Br'er Nobel? :D
Reading this post makes me willing to take all the snow we get to avoid having to deal with things like snakes and scorpions! YIKES!!! The worst thing I have to worry about is being stung by a bee, or being pooped on by a bird fly-by! :D
Arky--
You've been bit three times by a rattler? What was THAT like? Can't that be life threatening?
And someone's been bit by a scorpion--I'm thinking a little aspirin isn't really going to take the edge off of that! I'll take my snow! :-)
I got nailed a grazing blow by a moccasin, it hurt but he didn't get a load of venom in me. Had a problem with muscle pain for about 3 days. He came out of it worse than I did.
Had a scorpion stick me several times. The worse one was when I picked up a cabbage palm frond in a hammock in my early years. I'll never forget that. My hand burned like a hot poker had been stuck in it and my eyes rolled back in my head. When I picked myself up off of the ground, the pain was subsiding but it didn't go away for several hours. No long term effects accepting that I move stuff with a stick now before I grab it with my hand. :P :D
Your snow might be safer. I don't know 'cause I haven't lived in too much of it before. I can't see how it would taste very good though. Moccasin gets a kinda fishy taste sometimes and scorpions, I hear, are crunchy. I'll let someone else chomp on the scorpions though..... less I'm real hungry. :D
Well...as to how snow "tastes," I've heard of people making maple sugar candy in the snow--pouring maple syrup into snow and letting it harden--hear it's tasty!
What you really gotta watch out for though is that there yellow snow!
:D
Twice by rattlers and once by copper. They are different bites and the effect is different. Rattlers are like cottom mouths and it is a muscle pain and you get a stomace acke. It can stop your heart and a set of car keys are the best thing to have. Ice down the area if possible and you have hours before you die unless it gets you in the neck. Copper heads sting more and cause more swelling in the bite area. You take anti-botics to help clear it up. They tell me the next rattler should not bother me much but I am not looking forward to it. I was bitten while hunting twice and once in the barn telling my wife she should turn the light on before she stepped on a snake and when I went for the light it got me. >:( She remembers it quite well.
ARKANSAWYER
When I was a kid I lived in Singapore. I got bit by an ittty bitty snake and didn't think a whole lot about it. bit me on the finger tip. Being a kid i just squeezed it a lot till it bled some and went on playing with the little snake. We fed it to a chicken and the chicken died. Got worried then. had to do the anti venom thing then. Found out later it was one of the most poisonous snakes on the island. Guess the good Lord really does take care of fools. LeeB
A mohave green bit my boot once. My friend was able to save my foot, but the boot died a horrible death. Them little puppies are filled at the same pump that cobras use, High Test! My bud said next time he's gonna leave the boot on my foot, until I cough up enough to cover the remedy bill.
I got some of them coppers , they like to hang around my house. :o Thumped three last year only one this year.
So far.
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My helper and I moved some old rotting boards today. We also shoveled up a small pile of wood chips for filling in some low spots around the mill site. I counted 6 snakes today, none poisonous. Every one made my heart skip a beat when I first spotted it.
We have cottonmouths, copperheads and rattlers around here. We also have a lot of Black Widows. I don't put my hands on anything outside unless I'm wearing work gloves. I make my young helper wear them all the time as well. I'm thinking about giving up the tennis shoes and going to heavy boots. I just hate wearing those hot boots in the summer, but I would hate being snake bit even more.
VA-Sawyer
I'm with Paschale about the snow . In fact, after reading all this, I might move further north , just in case.
Holy cow, you guys, and I thought those big ugly worms on my tomato plants were awful! I would have a stroke if I saw a poisonous snake or spider. A little snow & ice are a very small price to pay to keep those horrible animals away! :o
I was runnin' the mill yesterday and Mary said ... "Look at this!"
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/wssnakeeggs01.jpg)
They had fallen out of a hole in a walnut log.
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Yes! M R Snakes! C D E D B D Is ! :o
So what part of the country did the Walnut Logs come from ???
And what does Mary think of snakes ???
Your Shotgun probably has a New Home, next to Saw Mill ;D
Not sure where that log come from other than south of us - towords Arky's... It had been on the lot for a while. I hope momma snake ain't around. :(
Man! You all gotta come over & live in NZ, the worst thing we get around here is sand-flies! ;)
You must have eyes in the back of your head when milling eh?
One of the things I liked about moving north from Southwestern Wisconsin to the central part of the state was the lack of rattlesnakes in the area.
We do have ground nesting hornets to make life a little interesting at times. I was rudely reminded of that this afternoon. I was out moving some oak logs around that I'm bucking up for firewood and walked into--or on--a nest. I vacated the area as soon as I realized what the buzzing sound was that I was hearing. Must have been quite a sight. I was running and flailing my arms at the buggers. Had a stone hammer in one hand that I had been using to set my skidding tongs in a log. It's a wonder that I didn't
do myself more violence than the hornets were doing. They are persistant little buggers. I ran about 60 yards, decided that was enough, slowed up and got stung two or three more times. I hot footed another 30 yards or so to the house. On way I passed our lab mix who was laying in the shade minding her own business. They nailed her a couple of times for good measure. She beat me to the kitchen door. Now we are laying around licking our wounds. Well, she is anyway. Guess that log will lay where it is until cold weather.
Woodcarver
Last spring was the worst for snakes I have seen here. It got so bad that I had to keep a .410 shot gun in the tractor because every time I picked up a bundle of lumber or logs one would run out. I went through a box of shells and killed at least 20 snakes in the log yard.
I sold some 2x10's to a customer and he noticed some #6 shot in some of the lower boards. I told him the lead was soft and it would not bother his tools and that I must have aimed a bit high on that snake. After filling him in on the deal I noticed that he walked around with his head down quite a bit. Steel toe boots come in handy for other things then just dropping stuff.
ARKANSAWYER
I sure am glad all I have to worry about is misquiteos (sp?) and snow flees ;D
I am not what you would call a religious man, but just a few minutes ago I had a revelation as I was unstacking a stickered pile. I pulled back the black plastic on the top of the pile and to my amazement I found myself giving a bible lesson to Mr. Copperhead :o :o :o
Whack, whack, whack
He is now with his maker.
I'll take the hornets any day. They're only a serious problem if you are allergic to the stings. This episode put that to the test. I'm not allergic. :D :D
I located the nest today in a hollow in the log I was about to skid. I was prepared to send them on their way, but then I read that hornets eat large numbers of insects. If what I read is true a nest of hornets will consume as many insects in a day as two or three nests of birds. Live and let live. I guess I'll just recover my skidding tongs in the cool of the evening and cede the log to the hornets for awhile. I have no shortage of logs to buck up.
Woodcarver
Put a sign on the log so you don't accidentally get into them again. Your a brave man. :D :D
My wife made the same suggestion. She knows how absent minded I can be at times. :) :)
I got a DanG rat snake around my place that likes to eat the rats that get into the horse feed. He don't bother me too much, but he is a little territorial and tries to bite the kids when they feed. I"ve hauled the bugger off three times already, as much as a mile away and he keeps finding his way back. I hate to have to kill him as I've read that this kind is actually becoming an endangered species. Guess I will haul him off one more time. LeeB
This topic is giving me the hebejebes I need to go split wood but Im thinking i might do that tomorrow I really don't want to have another run in with a snake I do not mind them so much if I know their their but it is the surprise attack Like last sturday I was cutting a piece of wood from the side of the road when a copper head came out and bit my boot I sliced it with my 066 and draged a$$ out of their forget that wood its not worth it.
Whooowee, After readin all the way through this post, it's become very clear of what folks I don't need to ask to hep us with this water loggin. If'n Y'all are skared of little bitty crawly creepers, then, I just KNOW y'all won't get back in the Swamps with us. ::) ::) :D :D :D :D :D
You're right Fla-D. Now I know why they paved so much of Florida.They must have snake patrols round all the rich folks houses. Glad I didn't know any of this when I went camping (travel trailer) in Arkansas last fall!!
FDH,
Do you and any of the other Florida guys have run-ins with gators? :o YIKES!!!
Naaahhhhh, We got 'em trained to harrass the Tourists. :D :D
Most of my "run-in's " are RUN OUTS !
I was born in Louisiana but grew up in Wisconsin. A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to see the area where I came into the world, so my wife and I spent some time traveling in Louisiana.
We did a little touring in the swamps with a Cajun guide. A half hour boat ride back into the swamp I asked him if he carried a compass with him. He said no, I grew up here. I said well nothing better happen to you because I couldn't find my way out of here alone without a compass. He laughed and said if you were in here alone you might not come out, even with a compass. He was right, of course. Nature sometimes deals harshlly with ignorance.
Now that doesn't mean that I wouldn't travel the swamps with you, FTH. You know the territory.
BOY ARE YOU NAIVE :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
When the old timers kicks in, I just figure to lay down and let nature have me !!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Guess I'd better make sure we have a compass along, huh. :D :D :D
Woodcarver
Snow snakes? SNOW snakes? Say it ain't so!!! All this time I thought snow was a sure fire way to keep away from those nasty, slithery critters! We got our share of garter snakes, but hardly anything poisonous (except for the Massasauga rattler--they're pretty scarce) but I thought those darn things liked it hot and humid and sticky. But SNOW snakes? That just goes against nature! Kirk, you gotta tell us a bit more about these interlopers to the snowy regions--I bet they like grits, so they're probably true southerners in disguise! ;):D
Snow snakes must really be cold-blooded. :D :D :D
I've worked extensively throughout the Southeast.......from Virginia to Florida west to eastern Texas.....booger hole swamps to the hills. The most vile of any of the woodland pests is undoubtedly a mosquito. They can make life absolutely miserable, as I have found nothing I can tolerate that does a decent job of repelling them. Ticks and chiggers fit into this same category prior to the introduction of Permanone, but it does an excellent job of keeping them at bay. Prior to it, I've had both Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I guess next in line of dread is the deer fly. One good thing is that they are slow and noisy. You have an honest shot at getting him before he gets you, but they counteract this with pure numbers. If a deer fly ever develops the stealth technology of a mosquito, they will be deadly. Next in line would be a fire ant. If you are somewhat careful, you can avoid these to some extent, but one misplaced step will cause you to have a bad week. Assorted stinging insects fall next in line.......yellow jackets, red wasps, hornets, and the usually peaceful honey bee. The worst I have every been stung was by honey bees. Bringing up the rear, in my opinion, would be the serpent. Working in cottonmouth or rattler country, I normally wear my snake chaps. I've been struck three times in my life, all by copperheads. Twice I was hit on the boot, once about mid-calf. I actually stepped on all three. Leather boots and chaps prevented any injury. An old timber rattler cut a few years off my life outside of Ashboro, NC. I had been marking property boundary lines on a tract that I bought the timber. It was July and hot as blue blazes. I had made it most of the way around the tract when I got back to the paved road near my truck. I stopped by the truck for water. I only had a few hundred feet of line left to mark, and I pulled my chaps off and threw them in the back of the truck. I went across the road to finish. There was a blown down VA Pine at the end of the line. I stepped across the butt and felt the ground move. The old boy shot out about three feet in front of me and coiled........48" long with 16 rattles and a button. I guess I should have let him go since he didn't ruin my day, but my walking stick fired on instinct. My logging foreman asked me not to show it to his crew, otherwise they wouldn't work another day.
Wudman, Ya need to get ya some "Tea Tree Oil" or Melaleuca Oil. Nearly any kind of sting, from Fire Ants to Man-O-War, will be near instantly neutralized with this oil. You will have the little puss sacks from the bite, but, if you don't scratch the bite, it will NOT burn.
Ask them Aussies about it. They know it works. Not sure about the Kiwi's ???
Ticks are another problem and snakes I haven't tried it on. We use 100% DEET for Skeeters and flies. If ya don't sweat it right off, it works great. Forget that fancy sporting goods Off and Repel. That's like Perfume. ::) ::)
Ask around for someone in your area that is an Agent for Melaleuca Products, which sells like Amway Products, but, not associated.
We have used it on severe jellyfish stings and it takes the fire out RAT NOW. ;) ;D ;D ;D
OK Kirk, I'm thinking you're pulling me leg about the ole snow snakes. :D I guess I'm a bit gullible. I didn't doubt you, honestly, and thought I'd do a google search to see what these darn snowy snakes looked like anyway. I was picturing an all white slithery thing, the reptillian equivalent of an arctic fox or polar bear. I guess I'm a bit of a rube! ;D Anyway, I found this link pretty interesting. :D :D
http://www.naturenorth.com/winter/snwsnk/snwsnkF.html
You had me going, Kirk. I really believed you! ::) :D :D
Well, they certainly must be elusive creatures, since now hearing about their method of attack, little did I know, but I've fallen victim to the dastardly snow snake myself on more than one occasion! :D :D :D Unfortunately, there was no bruising of the head of those darn snow snakes, just on my backside! :D
Its hard to believe their are actually snakes that can live in the cold the winter is when I get almost all my wood cut and split I never worry about snakes in the winter I always just figured they were Hibernating and stuff I did run across a 3 foot copper head when I was moving a large lot of wood before he could get up I nailed him with a 12 guage I had in the truck alittle scared the rest of the day but not to bad. Lately though it has been another story we have had 6 snakes in the last two weeks 4 at our house and two at my job sites I over them I just want them to be gown so I can cut some firewood.
When I got to Alaska I was warned about snow snakes. I even saw their tracks across the snow but I had been stationed down in Texas and they got some snakes down there. But come on now, how bad could they be? After I saw several bitten and one who died from it I knew they were real. Then one day at -35 while crossing a glaicer I saw my first one. It bit me on the a$$ and I like to froze to death most quick. I can tell this for sure it does not matter weither you step on it or it comes up your pants leg when you are bit it hurts and stays with you. Snow snakes, You can keep them up north and not hurt my feelings one bit.
ARKANSAWYER
Three snakes today...
We were sawing some blocking out of some big old black oak logs and had one with a hole in the heart. I sawed all the lumber off'n it and only had a boxed hole left. I sawed down the middle to make it easy to throw it on the slab stack. Mary pulled the top part off and got REAL excited. She could see a snake down in the section that was still on the mill. I, being the gentleman I am, came around and got a hold of the chunk on the opposite end of where the snake was. I then told Mary got get a hold and we'd toss it on the slab pile. She refused. So I took the snake end and she reluctantly took the other. She kept an eye on the slab stack until it was full and she emptied it on the fire. I asked her if the snake got out. She said she didn't know. Last she seen was that it was holding its head out of the chunk like it was questioning what was going on. On her next trip, it wasn't there. So...??
We stopped for dinner and were walking from the sawshed when I spotted a brown snake about the size of a big night crawler. I pointed it out to Mary. She asked if it was dead. I said it looked dead. She asked if I'd stomped it. I told her no because it looks dead. I then poked it with my toe. Pretty stiff. She still didn't trust that snake. They're sneaky you know. She got a hoe and wacked it couple of times for good measure.
Later in the day. Mary got to dancing around the off end of the mill again. There was another black snake under the mill. Or, more accurately, three pieces of black snake under the mill. Apparently the two black snakes were in the hollow log. Although in three pieces, it'd still squirm. I raked it out and took it to the woods about 30 yards away. There it could rest in pieces.
I got to thinking about Mary hacking the little brown snake with a hoe. I was reminded of the Bob and Tom radio show. Any time they'd bring up the word 'Godzilla', you'd hear a bunch of panicking Japanese. I just wonder if in the snake world, their greatest fear in a grey headed grandma with a hoe.
Several years back I was skinning a big old 6' diamond back rattler on the tail gate of my pickup, I had cut off its head first, about the time I got near three feet down from the head end I guess I hit a nerve, the thing reared up and struck me in the left forearm with the stump of its neck. Brused the heck out of my Dang arm and gave me a bad case of the shakes, I was not able to even get myself to go near it till the next day.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10186/DSC02272f.JPG)
This little fellow showed up at the new sawyard. Being a King snake he did not get the Bible opened up on him. But yesterday I saw a snake in the mill pond on the new log yard so his days are numbered.
This is interesting reading this and seeing the pictures . Where I live we get the black and yellow garden snake which are harmless , the little 4 legged swifts where if you step on their tail it falls off and they keep on truckin . Boy I just couldnt be around poisonus snakes , I suppose I will have a dream about snakes tonight . That is one heck of a picture ARKY , I like Mary's way the best with the garden tool :D