firearm for trapped copperheads

[CaptainMal]

The big problem with shooting pellets into a cage is getting hit by some of the pellets. I had a stone-walled camp in Pennsylvania. There lay a rattlesnake in the corner. Grabbed a 410 and let him have it. I got it.

Damn pellets bounced around over and over with me in the middle. Unpleasant but memorable.

 

[Tommie]

As a kid I was totally fascinated by snakes. No telling how many "pet" snakes I had. Yes, even a copperhead. I'm no herpetologist but I have lots of experience with the things.

Baiting with crickets or eggs won't get the job done. Copperheads want warm-blooded, live prey. In other words: mice. Ever wonder what all those white mice were doing in the pet store? Pets? Hardly. Almost all of them are sold as snake food.

 

[Immike]

As a kid I was totally fascinated by snakes. No telling how many "pet" snakes I had. Yes, even a copperhead. I'm no herpetologist but I have lots of experience with the things.

Baiting with crickets or eggs won't get the job done. Copperheads want warm-blooded, live prey. In other words: mice. Ever wonder what all those white mice were doing in the pet store? Pets? Hardly. Almost all of them are sold as snake food.

I was wondering about the cricket bait... heck I never wanted to catch a copperhead before. Lol Now you need to catch a mouse first OP or your missing out on the whole trapping expeirience here! Lol Maybe both would be a good trap! Bait the mouse and catch the snake!

 

[rogn]

I came across the most effective snake trap by putting bird netting on my blueberries. The snakes prowl around the bushes looking for birdnests or mice and they are effectively "gill netted" in the 3/4" mesh. Just put a good size piece(2' X 2') around any area they frequent , stake it down and check daily. I did a follow up of this procedure around our backyard chickens due to egg loss and managed to relocate about a dozen blacksnakes. If you dont check daily theyll wind up the net into a mess and die in the middle of it. !;? Theyre easy to dispatch in the net but hard to get out, fortuately netting is cheap.

 

[rebel]

There is a saying here in the foothills of the Appalachians - if you get bit by a copperhead you probably won't die, you'll just wish you would. These snakes have venom that attacks tissue and even after treated with antivenom, you can lose parts of yourself due to necropsy. I have at least 2 6 foot black snakes and one 5 foot king snake living on my property. I due have to grab the occasional one and chuck it out of the chicken coop ( mice and eggs = snakes). But I have rarely seen a copperhead because they are prey here to these snakes. I'm ever watchful though as copperhead doesn't generally bite until you have stepped on it. We also have Timber Rattlesnakes but they tend to occur more 15 miles west of me in more rocky, hilly terrain. They are bigger and pump a lot more juice into you. Just glad I don't live down in eastern NC. Eastern Diamondbacks are our heaviest, largest venomous snakes - 6 to 8 ft in length. And then there is the Coral, first cousin to a cobra. Swamps suck.

 

[Tnslim]

I'm thinking maybe 3 mag dumps each with a 10ga. Bring extra shells just in case.

 

[jds holler]

Our poisonous snakes are Western Diamondbacks. Generally two or three feet long, but I have killed a four footer. I have many snake stories, and have had the crap scared out of me several times.

I have a couple of very snaky creeks that I fish on, and almost never see a snake at the waters edge where we fish. Go up the bank a ways though along the brush line and you will find them. I'm pretty good at picking the spots where I could find one if I want to.

We sometimes hunt for them specifically, and it is pretty fun and exciting. And safer than just hiking or fishing where you're not actually looking for them. I don't personally know anyone who has been bitten, but I've come close. One time I stepped on a large flat rock that tipped a little and a snake started rattling. I quickly stepped off of the rock away from the noise and stepped right onto the head of the snake -- a big one. They say white guys can't jump, but they're wrong. My next "step" was about a ten footer. jd

 

[Immike]

Our poisonous snakes are Western Diamondbacks. Generally two or three feet long, but I have killed a four footer. I have many snake stories, and have had the crap scared out of me several times.

I have a couple of very snaky creeks that I fish on, and almost never see a snake at the waters edge where we fish. Go up the bank a ways though along the brush line and you will find them. I'm pretty good at picking the spots where I could find one if I want to.

We sometimes hunt for them specifically, and it is pretty fun and exciting. And safer than just hiking or fishing where you're not actually looking for them. I don't personally know anyone who has been bitten, but I've come close. One time I stepped on a large flat rock that tipped a little and a snake started rattling. I quickly stepped off of the rock away from the noise and stepped right onto the head of the snake -- a big one. They say white guys can't jump, but they're wrong. My next "step" was about a ten footer. jd

I knew a guy that was bitten by copperhead twice, he said both times it was a long night of pain for him!

 

[Elwood]

I knew a guy that was bitten by copperhead twice, he said both times it was a long night of pain for him!

He didn't believe how much it hurt the first time ?

 

[CTK]

I would rather have a brown bear 3 feet away from me than a poisonous snake. Makes no sense but is what it is.

 

[gambleone]

Don't like either one of those choices

 

[KMart]

The bad part about a copperhead is that they remain very still until you are right on top of them. They refuse to get out of the way and they have no way of warning you like a rattler does. If you find one of them in the yard, you usually have time to go back into the house and get a gun/shovel/ hoe then come back and dispatch them. They just sit there.
The fastest way to end a spring season squirrel hunt is to find yourself standing a foot or two from one of them. If you find one, there are more. You can't look up for squirrels when you are looking down for copperheads.

 

[joshb]

This is "on topic". Out of the blue, a friend sent me this. The caption was "Find the Copperhead"

 

[LHSmith]

This is "on topic". Out of the blue, a friend sent me this. The caption was "Find the Copperhead"
View attachment 1003849

This thread has poor timing?........and right before spring gobbler season where I typically walk to my spot in the dark and sit with my back against a tree As if I don't have enough of a deterrent from ticks. Now I may just sleep in.
Good news is I hunt very near a pair of nesting osprey. I just hope they don't miss any of these bad guys.

 

[joshb]

This thread has poor timing?........and right before spring gobbler season where I typically walk to my spot in the dark and sit with my back against a tree As if I don't have enough of a deterrent from ticks. Now I may just sleep in.
Good news is I hunt very near a pair of nesting osprey. I just hope they don't miss any of these bad guys.

It's a good reason to take a folding chair!

 

[LHSmith]

It's a good reason to take a folding chair!

Cabela's road trip for a camo one (no low riders) + snakeproof boots

 

[jds holler]

I'm an "odds guy", and when the odds of bad stuff happening are lower than for instance hitting the lottery, I tend not to worry about it much. I mentioned above that I don't personally know anyone who has been bitten by a rattler -- even though I live in pretty snaky country. On the other hand, I know several who have endured horrific spider bites, myself included. I FREAKING HATE SPIDERS!!

I've got some pretty serious stuff that needs work under my house, and the thought of going under there almost makes me wanna go back to drinking and dope. The black widows range from tiny to huge down there, and I truly would prefer a snake or two. jd

 

[Tuxedo007]

I'd make sure they aren't a protected or "endangered species" in your state before you go advertise your plans on the Internet.

Edit: YUP!! I just did a quick search on Google. They are protected in a lot of states. Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia........better check. Maybe just catch them and drop them off at your local PITA office. Keep your cage, tho.

Yes, here in NC, they are protected! Along with rattlers & other such things. The so called reason given is that this restores the ecological balance! Advice which was provided to a friend who had concerns for his dogs and small children went somewhat like this: " Keep your mouth shut and your bowels open and everything will be ok; If you get the two reversed, there'll be Hell to pay!"

 

[Big Mc]

I've been trying to figure out how to trap copperheads we get here each Spring and Summer so my grandchildren don't step on them playing around the house. After searching, I found a video on youtube of a guy that uses a minnow/fish trap - rectangular box shaped wire-mesh-like box (with one end shaped like a cone (with a hole in the end) that extends inside the box). He put chicken eggs (2) and/or some crickets (I think I can get them at the local pet store - they use them to feed pet snakes I think) inside the trap and caught snakes within 2 hours. The trap has about a 6x6" door on one side also made of wire mesh, so you (not me) can reach in there and grab the snake. Can grab them with snake tongs I've got, but I dont want. I talked with some friends who suggested using a CO2 air pistol to take care of the snakes without damaging the wire-mesh cage. If I use a pistol that shoots 20 gauge shotgun shells I will for sure damage the cage. Do you think an air pistol will work OK, and if so, are shot-filled rounds available I can use with an air pistol for this purpose.

Put the trap under water.. Snakes dead..Tommy Mc

 

[rogn]

For what its worth over the last 20 some years weve treated at least a half dozen copperhead bite of dogs. Almost all are labs and usually young ones. I dont think we ever lost on we treated. Labs especially pups keep messing with the snake until it bites. Treatment has been antibiotics, fluids, and an antiinflamatory( usually dexamethasone). The faces swell terribly for 24 hours and the dogs are miserable, but improvement usually starts to show after 24 hours and they wind up pretty normal in a week or so. A couple have sloughed some tissue, but most have been OK. Begs the question, does the snake use the same dose for self defense in all cases or do they meter it down some times.