Say you wake up with company in your sleeping bag (snake)????

I would think the dampness and smell of urine would drive the snake out, especially once it started to get cold:eek:

In all seriousness though, I think most people wouldn't know the snake was in their bag until it is too late. I for one move around a lot while sleeping, so this is of particular concern to me. After reading this I definitely won't be going minimalist. If it did happen though, I think the only option would be to wait it out.
 
bhoff said:
When I was a teenager camping in the Linville Gorge area of North Carolina had some animal with a bushy tail run inside my sleeping bag and back out in the middle of the night. The incident lasted 1-3 seconds. It will freak you out. Cant even imagine a snake.
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Squirrels, good thing he wasn't gathering nuts for the winter huh?
 
EMT_Lee said:
All of this just makes me glad I like to sleep in a hammock. :D It's like a suspended tent.
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+1 on this statement, but I often wonder what I would do if a bear came looking for a mid night snack. I would sleep with my side arm or a large knife and hope for the best LOL. O well, such is the life in the bush.

But I think that the best thing to do is hope like heck ya make it and it leaves.
 
Not so sure a hammock is that safe....snakes in trees might drop in on you! They are likely attracted by your body heat when you are in a bag,any movement you make will have possible deadly consequences. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it...give me a secure tent.

Was renting a house in the French countryside one summer,years ago. Taking an afternoon 'siesta' with my girlfriend, this glass window in the roof slid open for ventilation and a big bright green lizard fell through and landed on us...Not cool getting a reptile on your naked body while sleeping, don't know who screamed more me or her!
 
willgoy said:
Not so sure a hammock is that safe....snakes in trees might drop in on you! They are likely attracted by your body heat when you are in a bag,any movement you make will have possible deadly consequences. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it...give me a secure tent.

Was renting a house in the French countryside one summer,years ago. Taking an afternoon 'siesta' with my girlfriend, this glass window in the roof slid open for ventilation and a big bright green lizard fell through and landed on us...Not cool getting a reptile on your naked body while sleeping, don't know who screamed more me or her!
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LOL I could only imagine!
I don't know about some but my hammock has to have a tarp over head and it has a zip up net built on it. I have had skunks and raccoons run around underneath me. I was worried about getting bit on the bum.
 
I'd tell it to leave the money on the dresser on it's way out.. and than I'd get myself tested when I got back to civilization.
 
Above poster hit the nail on the head. Get a hammock. Here we got several types of snakes,scorpions,spiders,fire ants and other assorted nasties that while they might not kill you will at least ruin your trip. Hammock gets you up off the ground,allows air circulation(Its HOT here.) and I've even had a feral hog walk right under me with no ill effects(other than almost poopin in my sleeping bag..this bugger was huge!)
 
Ive slept on the ground many times in TX while in the service...just shake out your boots in the morning and dont worry so much. If you are unlucky, than thats the way the cards were dealt for you. We are all gonna die someday...nothing we can do about it at all.
I do like a good tent and pad or hammock, over the ground..not because I am worried...just that I am old, and my back hurts.
 
DocGP said:
Watching Les Stroud in Africa tonight and he tells of a bush story about a man waking up with a Black Mamba in his sleeping bag. Said his friends drag him out of the bag by ths shoulders in about 3 seconds and he is bitten 13 times by the mamba. He didn't make it.

SO, what do you do? I don't have to worry about a black mamba, but cotton mouth or copperhead, maybe rattle snake.....heck, wouldn't matter to me. I don't want ANY of them in my bedroll.

Only thing I could come up with that would be an option would be to lay there till he decides to leave. If you remain motionless, eventually he will (I assume) move on. The only way I could think of to expedidte the process would be to somehow create smoke (without fire) around the person in the bag to maybe run the snake out. Problem with that is when said person starts coughing, they might get bitten.

Any ideas on what to do that WOULDN'T get you bitten?

Doc
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yeah i agree with that. just lay there until the snake decides to leave on its own
 
Best to minimize the chances of attracting an unwelcome guest - bring two sleeping bags, and pack one with hot water bottles (for warmth) and several sedated rodents. Then the snake has a choice between curling up beside a human and spending the night in a buffet.

'course, that might not be very practical.

I like tents.

All the best,

- Mike
 
I wake up with a snake in my bed all the time. You just think of kittens until it goes away.

OK, that was terrible. hushnel's got it. Your little guest just wants the warmth. He'll go away when things warm up outside. For me the problem would be that I'm a very active sleeper, so I'd likely annoy my little visitor into doing something neither of us really want- so in that case it would be important to keep the crawly from getting in.

Oh and skunks are the same way. Some people in my area freak out when they see one, but you don't have to. They need to be provoked ALOT before they'll spray, because they only have so much of the stuff. I've come around blind corners to find myself close enough to a skunk to kick him- just stay calm and back away.
 
I'm just glad I live in Wisconsin. Skeeters and spiders nibblin' at me, and racoons waking me up trying to get at my food are the worst I've had to deal with.
 
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