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Poll: What should be done with venomous snakes on MTB trails?

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5.9K views 52 replies 32 participants last post by  dkknight74  
M
#1 · (Edited)
Okay, looking for public opinion from fellow NC/SC mountain bikers:

Here in Charlotte, one of our trails had one VERY LARGE Copperhead (and several smaller ones) spotted on it in the past two weeks.

So, what's the prevailing wisdom, should venomous snakes be killed in the name of safety, or should they be left alone? The trail in question probably sees 100 riders on a nice weekend. It is very rarely used by pedestrians.

Here's the poll:
https://www.polldaddy.com/p/982653/

Thanks for voting!

Here's the cause of all the hysteria:

https://shermanbranch.com/Documents/copperhead1.jpg
https://shermanbranch.com/Documents/copperhead2.jpg
https://shermanbranch.com/Documents/copperhead3.jpg
 
G
#8 ·
drkenan said:
Don't kill animals when you're riding in their natural habitat. That's just completely wrong. Ride around it.
Click to expand...
It can't be said any simpler than this.... If i was to kill any animal which could be potentially threatening i saw on a mtb ride, I would have had to kill at least 3 bears last year on Curtis Creek. Personally, I think it's moment of joy to find a wild animal amid all the distractions a trail or FS road will throw at you.
 
#9 ·
ive had many snakes(and other reptiles) for over a decade all over my house,(bedroom,living room,basement,i might be considered a zoo by now). ive come across rattlesnakes while riding. i treat them right, they treat me right. and this is on a DAILY basis,involving at least 6 snakes,for OVER TEN YEARS! i think your once/twice a year encounters will go just fine.there have been very few death EVER as a result of the copperhead anyway.......

"A study of 400 copperhead bites found that only two incidences resulted in death, both due to simultaneous bites by 3 or more snakes."

seems like a pretty low chance of this happening to you now doesnt it. ill bet good money there is a better chance of you getting raped by hillbillies while biking. do you kill all the hillbillies you see?

anybody who kills a snake out of fear is a pathetic. *****.
 
#10 ·
that is a beautiful copperhead BTW! you guys are so lucky to have seen it!
during my last trip to brown county i found an amazing timber rattler! which is endangered in that state! even though Brown Co is considered to be some of the best riding anywhere,that find was probally the highlight of my trip. i might never find one again with the rate idiots are killing them.

Image
 
#11 ·
-G- said:
It can't be said any simpler than this.... If i was to kill any animal which could be potentially threatening i saw on a mtb ride, I would have had to kill at least 3 bears last year on Curtis Creek. Personally, I think it's moment of joy to find a wild animal amid all the distractions a trail or FS road will throw at you.
Click to expand...
if i was to kill all the potentially threatening animals on my normal ride........lets just say its southside chicago at night......those kind of threats. the kind with guns. urban wildlife.
 
G
#12 ·
I say leave them alone. Dealing with potentially dangerous animals, like bears, is all about people management--not animal management. I'd say the same is true for snakes in most circumstances.

I do sometimes fear that one day I will take a spill while riding singletrack and land on or right by a rattlesnake. But the odds are in my favor that it won't happen and, if it does, most people survive even if you can't even get treatment.
 
M
#13 ·
Pretty nice find! I live in Charleston SC (low country) and you would be lucky if you didnt see at least 3 copperheads on a ride. Sometimes I just stop and check them out for a while. Its always a bonus to see wildlife(regardless of what kind) on a ride. They are not a verry aggressive snake, so if you dont molest them you should be fine.
 
V
#15 ·
i hope this "poll" isn't used to determine the fate of said animal. correct me if i'm wrong, but doesn't killings animals on park property, in their natural habitat, result in a fine if caught? if that is the case, this is a non-issue. what ever happened to being aware of your surroundings? in this case, looks like he/she is lying in the middle of the trail.
 
#20 ·
vinnycactus said:
i hope this "poll" isn't used to determine the fate of said animal. correct me if i'm wrong, but doesn't killings animals on park property, in their natural habitat, result in a fine if caught? if that is the case, this is a non-issue. what ever happened to being aware of your surroundings? in this case, looks like he/she is lying in the middle of the trail.
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The OP is just mad 'cause the snake is crossing the trail when it's wet.
 
M
#23 ·
(OP here)

Thanks for the votes so far. It's going exactly the way I expected - most people say leave the snake alone.

And I am all in favor of leaving them alone, despite the fact that I am much more likely than most others to be bitten by one, since I walk/hike/trail run at least 10 times as often as I MTB in this park (I have a German Shepherd that gets really ticked off if I don't walk him in the park twice a day). I am in the park every single day, since I live a few hundred feet from it. In about 1,000 hours worth of time in the park, I've only seen ONE copperhead, so I still think it is a very rare occurrence to see one. And no one was bitten while building 11+ miles of trail, either.

My dog and I both stepped right over a copperhead less than 3 months ago. Probably a 30" one laid out across the singletrack. I didn't see it until I was fully committed to the next step. It made ZERO effort to strike at either of us, so I figured I'd just watch him until he slithered back into the woods, to keep anyone else from coming along and finding it there by surprise.

Growing up in (then rural) S. Fla,, Eastern Diamondbacks, Pygmy rattlesnakes, and even Coral snakes were commonplace. You never heard of anyone dying after being bitten. The stupid alligators got all the press. :madman:

BTW, yes, I believe there is a fine of $100 for killing any animal other than a fish in our county parks. $500 fine if you are intentionally hunting. I really doubt the fine would be enforced for killing a venomous snake, though.
 
#25 ·
Yeah, but:

although the overall mortality rates for snakebite are very low, Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes have a 40% mortality rate. And children and adults under 120 pounds are at greater risk. So...chances are, if one bites me...I'm dead. I take that seriously, but it doesn't look like any of you do. And North Carolina has the largest per capital incidence of reported snake bite in the US...19 per 100,000.
 
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