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Almost Shot a Copper Head Snake Today.

Sig229

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Dec 14, 2006
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926
Location
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
It was a warm day and I figured I would go down to the river and go fishing.

Turned out a lot of other people planned the same thing and a lot of the fishing spots were taken.
I figured I would walk along the bank up a mile or two and get away from all of them.

While walking along the rocky bank, I started to slip and loose my foothold a few times.
(In some places a long the bank its like a cliff face and water)


As I grabbed a tree root for stability I noticed a bright copper colored snake come out from under a large rack crevice and splash into the water.

Keep in mind I really had no place else to go, so splosh Im in waist deep water with a god damn venomous pit viper three feet in front of me.

I was OCing my Sig 229 on my hip, and I swiftly drawed from under the water and slowly lifted my pistol out of the water muzzle down while holding my fishing rod in front of me.

Thankfully he just stuck his tongue out at my (sniffing me) and swam away and onto the other side of the river.

I have to tell you by the time I got to the other side of the rock face, and flopped down I was about to pass out from the pure adrenaline rush.

I re holstered my Sig and was about to smoke a cigarette, then realizing they were soaked along with my cell phone and wallet.


I realize shooting a snake in water is probably extremely difficult, but hell thats all I could think of and to be honest it just seemed like it was an automatic reaction to unholoster my weapon in that circumstance.
 

PistolPackingMomma

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Oct 1, 2011
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SC
It's good you've trained yourself to draw instinctively.

Would your gun have still worked after being submerged?
 

Sig229

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carsontech

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Apr 7, 2011
Messages
529
Location
Anderson, SC
The main reason I OC my .40 Sig while fishing is not so much for small critters, but the big ones (think Deliverance).

Some of the locals along the southern Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers are really scary.

"He got a real pretty mouth ain't he?" ;)


lol, my first gun was the Sig P250. Kinda turned me off of Sig, but now I carry my husband's P238, and it's winning me over :D

I thought you liked my 220, as well?
 
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j4l

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Jan 6, 2011
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1,835
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fl
Those snakes are no joke. If they get the drop on you, and strike you can easily be a goner.
Get tons of Cottonmouths and Rattlesnake out here, so I keep a .410 loaded with #6 shot handy whenever Im out and bout around the house.
Not sure how well I'd do trying to hit one with a pistol round- even my .45- as they can be hard to hit, sometimes, even with .410 , when they are moving quickly.
The .22 snake-load might be a good idea for such situations as you were in. Handier than a .410., for sure.
 

Jack House

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Jun 12, 2010
Messages
2,611
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I80, USA
<3 the P226, wanna buy one eventually. But there are so many others and not enough money.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2
 

Dreamer

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Sep 23, 2009
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5,360
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Grennsboro NC
Those snakes are no joke. If they get the drop on you, and strike you can easily be a goner.


Simply untrue.

Unless you are a small child, or someone with a serious heart or circulatory condition, copperhead bites from a mature snake are RARELY fatal in the US. They can hurt. They might get infected. They can cause flu-like symptoms, high fever, cramping and localized numbness, but they rarely are fatal. I you can get to a hospital with a few hours, you'll probably be OK.

You are more likely to die from being stung by bees or wasps than from a copperhead bite.

Baby copperheads are, however, MUCH more venomous than adult ones, and their bites can be life-threatening, especially if you get bit by several at the same time...
 

j4l

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Messages
1,835
Location
fl
Simply untrue.

Unless you are a small child, or someone with a serious heart or circulatory condition, copperhead bites from a mature snake are RARELY fatal in the US. They can hurt. They might get infected. They can cause flu-like symptoms, high fever, cramping and localized numbness, but they rarely are fatal. I you can get to a hospital with a few hours, you'll probably be OK.

You are more likely to die from being stung by bees or wasps than from a copperhead bite.

Baby copperheads are, however, MUCH more venomous than adult ones, and their bites can be life-threatening, especially if you get bit by several at the same time...

Then I stand corrected.
Sig, in future encounters with such creatures, be sure to establish it's age, before deciding whether to return fire or flee...
:rolleyes:
 

PistolPackingMomma

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
Messages
1,884
Location
SC
Baby copperheads are, however, MUCH more venomous than adult ones, and their bites can be life-threatening, especially if you get bit by several at the same time...

Actually...

Myth 8) Baby Venomous Snakes Are More Dangerous Than Adults.

This myth is roughly two-thirds nonsense and one-third truth. I believe this myth was born out of the human fascination with irony. For some reason we like to think it’s the one we don’t see coming that always gets us. We like to root for the underdog, and we simply like the notion of the tiny one being the deadly one.

But the fact of the matter is that baby venomous snakes are not more venomous than their parents. In fact, quite the opposite is true in a great many snake species; adults have far more virulent venom than the young snakes. For example, both adult and juvenile timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) have venom that is “strongly hemolytic,” which means it causes the breakdown of red blood cells, in prey (Ernst 116). Yet venom studies in older adults demonstrate that the “activity level of some venom enzymes tends to increase with the size and age of the snake” (Ernst 116). So an older timber rattlesnake has venom more virulent than a younger one.

Similarly, an adult snake is capable of delivering a much larger venom dose than a smaller snake. Consider the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus). Juveniles of the species typically deliver less than 70 milligrams of venom, whereas a healthy adult specimen may deliver 492 to 666 milligrams of venom (Ernst 90). The known maximum is 848 milligrams in a single bite (Ernst 90). Roughly 100 milligrams of venom is considered a lethal dose for an adult human.

So if the venom toxicity of a young snake is not as potent as an adult, and the total venom yield of a juvenile is not nearly as great as an adult’s, what part of this myth is one-third true? The answer lies in the venomous snake’s experience level. Adults are veterans of life. They have successfully avoided or driven back predators and attackers, and they have full control over all muscular functions. Adults recognize the need to conserve their precious venom. It takes time to produce it, and a snake that empties its venom reserves in an attacker has nothing left to subdue prey. They have learned that a venomous snake without venom doesn’t eat.

It’s a different story for neonate venomous snakes. They generally are not as in control of their muscular functions as are adult snakes, and they are at their most vulnerable point in life. Defensive strikes are fast and thorough. When these snakes bite, they typically bite hard, pumping the attacker full of every last bit of venom. If a young venomous snake’s bite were to be more dangerous than an adult’s, this would be the only way.

Also, factor in that the adult snake has longer fangs with larger hollow spaces allowing for deeper penetration and more venom flow, and generally have greater accuracy.
 
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