# your favorite old wive's tales about snakes



## harveythefly (Oct 3, 2008)

hey guys...i'm starting this thread because i hear lots of silly stories about snakes at work...always prefaced with "is it true that snakes..." or "did you know that snakes..." and it's almost always something folkloreish...i just wanted to see if anyone has any good ones they'd like to share

i start it off with a couple of my favorites:

"Did you know that water moccasins (for those who don't know "water moccasin" is a coloquial term for Cottonmouth) give birth by spitting the babies our of their mouths?"

"did you know that you can keep snakes out of your camp by stretching a length of rope around your camp site? the rough fibers in the rope hurt their bellies so they won't crawl over it"

i wonder if i could compile all of these into a book if anyone would buy it and read it 

Harvey


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## Rochelle (Oct 3, 2008)

When I was a kid, I was told that our local milk snakes would grab their own tails in their mouths and roll downhill to escape predators.  
I am so not kidding.


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## crpy (Oct 3, 2008)

Told in the voice of a gruff old geezer (not unlike my self)


Coral snakes are rear fanged and they gotta chew on ya to put poison in ya.


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## harveythefly (Oct 3, 2008)

i just thought of another good one...

the old people down here used to tell us that black racers (called "blue runners" down here) could whip you with their tails and if they did you could get a fever from it and die!

Harvey


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## crpy (Oct 3, 2008)

I wonder if a milk snake ever bit a cow udder:?


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## sassysmama (Oct 3, 2008)

My favorite that I've heard lately was a guy who swore up and down that he found a nest of rattlesnake eggs.  Of course, he didn't touch them because the can bite through the egg.  When I asked where he'd found the nest, he replied, "in a low branch on a tree."    I love it when people make themselves look dumb.  Also, I've been told to watch out for my burmese python, because in their natural habitat, they eat bears!  This is a great thread.
-Ally


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## harveythefly (Oct 3, 2008)

sassysmama said:


> My favorite that I've heard lately was a guy who swore up and down that he found a nest of rattlesnake eggs.  Of course, he didn't touch them because the can bite through the egg.  When I asked where he'd found the nest, he replied, "in a low branch on a tree."    I love it when people make themselves look dumb.  Also, I've been told to watch out for my burmese python, because in their natural habitat, they eat bears!  This is a great thread.
> -Ally


burms don't eat bears? :liar:  



> I wonder if a milk snake ever bit a cow udder


i've actually heard that milk snakes got the name because farmers used to find them in with the cows and believed they were in there to steal the milk...in fact i've also heard people say that snakes love to drink milk and that if you put a saucer of milk in your yard that snakes will be attracted to it and stay out of your house hehe

i'd really love to know how some of this gets started

Harvey


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## crpy (Oct 3, 2008)

harveythefly said:


> burms don't eat bears? :liar:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Grain alcohol


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## Rochelle (Oct 3, 2008)

harveythefly said:


> i'd really love to know how some of this gets started
> 
> Harvey


Grain alcohol and Mothers & Grandmas who want to keep multiple children out of the field. 

The boogeyman is a good example of how to scare the kids into staying in the house at night and being inside before dark.  

p.s..it still works! :clap:


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## Tim Benzedrine (Oct 3, 2008)

I think I can win the thread! I've already posted the story in another thread a good while back, so instead of typing it all out again, I'll just link to my post. The Deadly Grecian Rock-Flinger


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## pitbulllady (Oct 3, 2008)

Many, many people here in the South fear the Coachwhip(_Masticophis flagellum)_ more than any venomous species, believing that these snakes will chase down a person, or any other living thing, wrap around them and beat them to death with the tail, and that the snake's tail is forked, so it can stick its tail up its victim's nostrils to check for breathing...and if finding any evidence of such, will resume the beating until the victim is thoroughly dead!  I had this White trash heckler show up at a public snake presentation I was conducting once, who was flabbergasted when I calmly pulled out a Canebrake rattler with snake tongs and did not then proceed to run from it, so he had to challenge me with this:  "I bet thar's one snake you won't pick up, Miss I-Ain't Scared-a-No-Snake, and that-thar's a Coachwhip!  Yesseree, I would love to see your edjacated @** pick one a THEM up!"  So, I did.  An eight-footer to be exact.  The whole time, as I was allowing this snake to drape itself over my shoulders, the idiot was still going on, laughing about how he bet I couldn't pick up a Coachwhip; it was clear he had no idea what a Coachwhip actually looked like!  I was going to let him make a bigger fool of himself, but a camo-clad guy in the audience walked up and tapped his shoulder, then said something to the effect of, "Bo, I'm purty sure that IS a Coachwhip she's got 'round her neck, there!"  "Bo" took a few moments to let THAT sink in past his latest couple of beers, then suddenly remembered that he needed to go pee really bad, and hastily made his way towards the restrooms, and as far from me as possible!

pitbulllady


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## harveythefly (Oct 3, 2008)

pitbulllady said:


> Many, many people here in the South fear the Coachwhip(_Masticophis flagellum)_ more than any venomous species, believing that these snakes will chase down a person, or any other living thing, wrap around them and beat them to death with the tail, and that the snake's tail is forked, so it can stick its tail up its victim's nostrils to check for breathing...and if finding any evidence of such, will resume the beating until the victim is thoroughly dead!  I had this White trash heckler show up at a public snake presentation I was conducting once, who was flabbergasted when I calmly pulled out a Canebrake rattler with snake tongs and did not then proceed to run from it, so he had to challenge me with this:  "I bet thar's one snake you won't pick up, Miss I-Ain't Scared-a-No-Snake, and that-thar's a Coachwhip!  Yesseree, I would love to see your edjacated @** pick one a THEM up!"  So, I did.  An eight-footer to be exact.  The whole time, as I was allowing this snake to drape itself over my shoulders, the idiot was still going on, laughing about how he bet I couldn't pick up a Coachwhip; it was clear he had no idea what a Coachwhip actually looked like!  I was going to let him make a bigger fool of himself, but a camo-clad guy in the audience walked up and tapped his shoulder, then said something to the effect of, "Bo, I'm purty sure that IS a Coachwhip she's got 'round her neck, there!"  "Bo" took a few moments to let THAT sink in past his latest couple of beers, then suddenly remembered that he needed to go pee really bad, and hastily made his way towards the restrooms, and as far from me as possible!
> 
> pitbulllady


pitbulllady you are instantly and forever my new favorite person:clap: 

Harvey


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## Tim Benzedrine (Oct 3, 2008)

Rochelle said:


> When I was a kid, I was told that our local milk snakes would grab their own tails in their mouths and roll downhill to escape predators.
> I am so not kidding.


"Hoop Snakes"!  I think that one that has been attributed to Coachwhips also. And furthermore, they also will roll and then after picking up speed, straighten out and launch themselves in the air, impaling their unfortunate victims javelin-style. They could even penetrate a tree-trunk, and if they did so, the tree would die, because of the incredibly toxic poison the snake carries in their stinger/tail! This arose from the sharp pointed tail the snakes possess. Again, I believe the claim has been attributed to Coachwhips, but I'm not certain. pitbulllady, do Coachwhips have the sort of tail that would inspire that kind of myth?


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## Rochelle (Oct 3, 2008)

pitbulllady said:


> Many, many people here in the South fear the Coachwhip(_Masticophis flagellum)_ more than any venomous species, believing that these snakes will chase down a person, or any other living thing, wrap around them and beat them to death with the tail, and that the snake's tail is forked, so it can stick its tail up its victim's nostrils to check for breathing...and if finding any evidence of such, will resume the beating until the victim is thoroughly dead!  I had this White trash heckler show up at a public snake presentation I was conducting once, who was flabbergasted when I calmly pulled out a Canebrake rattler with snake tongs and did not then proceed to run from it, so he had to challenge me with this:  "I bet thar's one snake you won't pick up, Miss I-Ain't Scared-a-No-Snake, and that-thar's a Coachwhip!  Yesseree, I would love to see your edjacated @** pick one a THEM up!"  So, I did.  An eight-footer to be exact.  The whole time, as I was allowing this snake to drape itself over my shoulders, the idiot was still going on, laughing about how he bet I couldn't pick up a Coachwhip; it was clear he had no idea what a Coachwhip actually looked like!  I was going to let him make a bigger fool of himself, but a camo-clad guy in the audience walked up and tapped his shoulder, then said something to the effect of, "Bo, I'm purty sure that IS a Coachwhip she's got 'round her neck, there!"  "Bo" took a few moments to let THAT sink in past his latest couple of beers, then suddenly remembered that he needed to go pee really bad, and hastily made his way towards the restrooms, and as far from me as possible!
> 
> pitbulllady


OMG.
You win, PBL.

That is the funniest thing I've ever heard...I'd sell my mother for a chance to have seen/heard that, first hand.     
You gotta love the Gomers, for comedy relief....lmao!


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## crpy (Oct 3, 2008)

Rochelle said:


> OMG.
> You win, PBL.
> 
> That is the funniest thing I've ever heard...I'd sell my mother for a chance to have seen/heard that, first hand.
> You gotta love the Gomers, for comedy relief....lmao!


Yeah more power to pbl, we call em ya hoos here, you can tell when the only neuron they have in their skull sparks cause their head jerks.


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## Rochelle (Oct 3, 2008)

Ya-hoos! That works better! (I hate my yahoo - it never works right)

My apologies to Mr. Pyle........   :worship:


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## crpy (Oct 3, 2008)

Rochelle said:


> Ya-hoos! That works better!
> My apologies to Mr. Pyle........   :worship:
> 
> 
> ...


yeah its real slow


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## pitbulllady (Oct 4, 2008)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> "Hoop Snakes"!  I think that one that has been attributed to Coachwhips also. And furthermore, they also will roll and then after picking up speed, straighten out and launch themselves in the air, impaling their unfortunate victims javelin-style. They could even penetrate a tree-trunk, and if they did so, the tree would die, because of the incredibly toxic poison the snake carries in their stinger/tail! This arose from the sharp pointed tail the snakes possess. Again, I believe the claim has been attributed to Coachwhips, but I'm not certain. pitbulllady, do Coachwhips have the sort of tail that would inspire that kind of myth?


No, they've got a very long, thin tail with big scales that DOES resemble a braided leather buggy whip, which is how they originally got that name, BUT, another common local snake, the very docile and harmless Mud Snake(_Faranica abacura)_ DOES have a sharp, pointy scale at the end of its tail which is does use to poke or scratch at the skin of an "attacker".  It can't actually penetrate human skin, and these snakes usually do nothing more than musk and wad up like a Ball Python(never known a Mud Snake to bite, ever, or even strike, for that matter), but many folks are convinced that the tail ends in a "stinger", and that the snake will use it to kill not only humans, but trees!  This is apparently one of the main snakes that seems to be identified as a "Hoop Snake", too.

Many people around here also believe that only one gender of Rattlesnake has a rattle, though WHICH gender it is seems to depend more on who tells you that particular wives' tale. Whenever someone kills a snake, they almost inevitably proclaim it to be a "Rattlesnake", and if someone reminds them that the snake didn't have a rattle, they'll just say something like, "Oh, that's because it was a (fill in gender of your choice here), and they don't have the rattles.  Only the (fill in OPPOSITE gender of choice here)has rattles."

pitbulllady


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## Tim Benzedrine (Oct 4, 2008)

I see. I'm not in the range of mud snakes. Or coachwhips, for that matter. We do have milk snakes, but sadly, the only ones I have ever seen were corpses after having been killed as "copperheads". Once was when fellow just brought a head for me to ID  Another I found when I was directed to "go down to the field and look at the copperhead we killed". 
You have to ask yourself how some of those myths get started. Some are just an ignorance of the habits of snakes and of biology in general, but why would a snake impale a tree in order to kill it?

One that gets my goat is the old "black snake crossed with a copperhead" bit. That one's easy to figure out. People see the underlying juvenile pattern in a black rat snake and since any kind of pattern=venomous, it only stands to reason that the snake in question is the product of an unholy union between a copperhead and a blacksnake.
 Plus blacksnakes are supposed to den with blacksnakes, which would also be incriminating. Come to think of it, I don't even know if THAT is true, but I never saw any reason why it couldn't be. Lots of critters share dens.  I've never heard similar charges that rattlers cross with black snakes, but I'm sure it's been claimed.

Here is one that I've never been sure whether there is a basis of truth to or not: According to some folk, you can tell that there are copperheads and/or rattlers in the area if you smell the odor of cucumbers. Now, I don't really buy that, but have always been open to the possibility that perhaps the musk of copperheads and rattlers bears a passing resemblance to the odor of cucumbers and thus spawned a myth. I do know that no snake that has ever musked me has ever smelled remotely like cucumbers Abd I'm fairly sure that if you are outdoors and smell cucumbers, you really should start looking for cukes and not pit vipers.


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## pitbulllady (Oct 4, 2008)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> I see. I'm not in the range of mud snakes. Or coachwhips, for that matter. We do have milk snakes, but sadly, the only ones I have ever seen were corpses after having been killed as "copperheads". Once was when fellow just brought a head for me to ID  Another I found when I was directed to "go down to the field and look at the copperhead we killed".
> You have to ask yourself how some of those myths get started. Some are just an ignorance of the habits of snakes and of biology in general, but why would a snake impale a tree in order to kill it?
> 
> One that gets my goat is the old "black snake crossed with a copperhead" bit. That one's easy to figure out. People see the underlying juvenile pattern in a black rat snake and since any kind of pattern=venomous, it only stands to reason that the snake in question is the product of an unholy union between a copperhead and a blacksnake.
> ...


I've caught many Rattlers, Copperheads and Cottonmouths, and I've never smelled ANY snake that reminded me of cucumbers, watermelons or fresh-cut grass-all things that I've heard people tell me that these snakes smell like.  They can and will musk, but it just stinks, and I honestly don't think anyone would intentionally grown ANYTHING in their gardens, let alone EAT it, that smelled that bad!

I, too, have always been told to be wary of catching even non-venomous snakes(or "poisonous", as most people erroneously say), because they can mate with venomous snakes and produce offspring that LOOK harmless, but have the venom.  With most of the suspect non-venomous species, including Rat Snakes and Racers, being egg-layers, and all of our venomous except for the Coral Snake being live-bearers, not to mention very different evolutionary paths of the pit vipers and modern Colubrids this is, of course, impossible.  One of the reasons I think this is so widespread is that most harmless snakes will vibrate their tails when they are scared or feel threatened, and this gives the impression that a Rattler must be back there somewhere in their recent family tree, even though they don't LOOK like a Rattler. 

pitbulllady


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## Tim Benzedrine (Oct 5, 2008)

Ah! I just recalled another one! "The venom of neonate and juvenile snakes is much more potent than that of the adults." Anybody heard that one?


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## harveythefly (Oct 6, 2008)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> Ah! I just recalled another one! "The venom of neonate and juvenile snakes is much more potent than that of the adults." Anybody heard that one?


i get this one all the time at work...usually after i correct people on this one they backpedal into "no the venom isn't more potent but because the snakes are so young they can't control it yet so they inject more venom than adults"...

  

Harvey


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## Laba-Laba (Oct 6, 2008)

In South East Asia, i was told by locals that pit vipers are "harmless in the day beacuse they can only see at night".  That always made me chuckle...


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## hardlucktattoo (Oct 6, 2008)

Laba-Laba said:


> In South East Asia, i was told by locals that pit vipers are "harmless in the day beacuse they can only see at night".  That always made me chuckle...


TO that I would respond Close your eyes............then I would hand them an apple and tell them to eat it Just cause you cant see doesnt mean you cant bite


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## GiantVinegaroon (Oct 6, 2008)

Personally, I hate any stupid rumors as it gives snakes a bad and outrageous reputation.

What irks me the most is when I'm home in NJ and people think the _Nerodia sipedon sipedon_ are water mocassins.


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## ScorpDemon (Oct 7, 2008)

My girlfriends cousin told her last week that cottonmouths don't have fangs, and have to chew on you for more than 10 seconds to envenomate. This was after she told him that we kept a cottonmouth and a copperhead... some people..

Chris


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