# Last two herping trips.



## Bear Foot Inc (May 20, 2009)

5/20/09
Went herping again this morning back up to berks county. Like a idiot i forgot the memory card for the camera, so no good photos (snapped a few with the cell for proof though. I'll upload those later)
At about 9:00am i found a nice little northern water under a rock, he was real cold and hardly moved when i picked him up, awesome belly patterns! About half an hour later i flipped a slab of cement and found a 18"ish copperhead! This snake too was very cold and came out right willingly on my hook. Too some photos of him out in the sun, and by then he was warm and friskey so we put him back.
Herped for another half hour or so and i spotted a 3' black rat (eastern now) on a log pile (same pile that the copperhead was on the other day) he was in shed and didn't blink when i picked him up, snapped a few photos and set him back on his warm log, last i saw he was still sitting there. Shortly later my buddy nearly tripped over the hugest garter snake we ever saw, it sucked down in a pile of briers before he could grab it, but that thing looked like a yellow rat it was so huge! We then took an hour hike up above some huge cliffs and over a lake, from up there (150+ feet) i saw a water snake swimming along the lake and onto the bank. (not much else around there, its a old mining lake) We hiked down and around to the spot where he went on the bank, and sure enough he was still there, i grabbed him just as he was heading out to sea.  Nice adult N. water. Snapped a photo of him and after dodging a few more strikes let him go. As we were walking out my buddy caught another big N. water. And we talked to an old couple who told us they saw a hog up in some pine trees! So thats where i'm heading next time! 




5/15/09
Well i've been finding water snakes garters and queens for the last few weeks, but this was the first time i was able to get out for copperheads. Friday night i went up to a spot in burks county PA with a buddy, and as luck would have it, i found a nice copperhead out on a log pile!  Only sad part was his mouth looked kinda funny, like someone had messed with him at one point, but other than that, great lookin snake!
Here are a few photos, so enjoy!


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## agama (May 20, 2009)

you found a lot


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## Bear Foot Inc (May 21, 2009)

Yea it was a good day! I love the copperheads, such awesome snakes!


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## agama (May 21, 2009)

arent those dangerouse...have you got bitten once


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## atrox (May 21, 2009)

agama said:


> arent those dangerouse...have you got bitten once



Yes they are dangerous, but not deadly.  He's being irresponsible by handling them in this manner.  It's typical of young guys.  I did it until I paid the price by a more dangerous member of this family.  I now only observe, and take pics with as little harassment as possible.


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## CID143ti (May 21, 2009)

Amaga, Dangerous is one of those relative things.  Sure, they can be, but as long as you respect the animal and keep your fingers away from the sharp end you should be okay.  I wouldn't recommend picking up or tailing one...they are usually short snakes and pretty good at coming back around.

W. Smith


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## Bear Foot Inc (May 21, 2009)

Irresponsible is one way to put it... But if your careful and know what your doing, a hand on the tail and controlling the head with a hook is quite safe. I dont recommend doing it, but i dont feel worried in the least. I've handled 100's if not 1000's of snakes that way, and never received a bite. A cold copperhead is the least of my worries.
I'm not going to go charging into the bush after one, and grab him croc hunter style and pull him out, but once he's out on the road, moving him around with a hook and a tail is the easiest and safest for the snake...


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## dtknow (May 21, 2009)

The method looks ok to me...I've never dealt with venomous though...but I'd swap the sandals for shoes and reccomend pants(jeans or whatever...more for the nasty plants than the snakes)


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## Bear Foot Inc (May 21, 2009)

dtknow said:


> The method looks ok to me...I've never dealt with venomous though...but I'd swap the sandals for shoes and reccomend pants(jeans or whatever...more for the nasty plants than the snakes)



I usually use boots and long pants (like you say, for the plants, not snakes) since i don't like to rely on not getting bitten because of boots, just my luck a snake would tag me right above them. With sandals you have to make sure he stays away from your feet.  But we were mostly creek walking that day, hence the shorts and sandals.


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