Hunting & Gathering With a Fiddleback & a Friend

Coppertops are worrisome as they generally do not move away. Not very aggressive but mistakes happen- they are quiet and FAST!

I was flipping boards in a mill once and had my hands on either side of ones head- he was lying vertical watching the boardtops for mice! He could have had me at anytime, I let him live since he did not bite me :)

Indigos will always be the pet that got away from me.
Bill

Bill
 
Great thread and pictures, Mist!! Any day in the woods is a great day:D

Thank you sir, my thoughts exactly!


Coppertops are worrisome as they generally do not move away. Not very aggressive but mistakes happen- they are quiet and FAST!

I was flipping boards in a mill once and had my hands on either side of ones head- he was lying vertical watching the boardtops for mice! He could have had me at anytime, I let him live since he did not bite me :)

Indigos will always be the pet that got away from me.
Bill

Bill

I don't normally harm snakes unless it is defense. I wasn't going to kill this copperhead, I was hunting the right stick to fling it off the other side of the road and down the bank away from where I was parking. I had my daughter with me and just thought it would be best. But then it got apprehensive about me, flattened out at first, then coiled up to strike. I think the car that was going by was trying to keep from killing it, seeing I was watching it and snapping some photos, but he didn't have room to go around and straddled it. The snake panicked and struck the underside of the car. That was a bad idea as it was badly injured. So, I killed it to put it out of its misery, and turned it into a learning experience for my daughter on how well copperheads blend in with the natural terrain here. She was fascinated by the snake and studied it for almost an hour before we continued on our hike.

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I am very cautious hiking in the mountains this time of year. I don't poke around without my hiking staff handy. My hearing is not so good and my eyesight isn't what it was thirty years ago. Looks like my rhododendron crawling looking for brookies is over. There's still some nice step across creeks above 2500 feet with good populations of wild brook trout that I fish in October.
 
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