snakes in the bags???

adam0321

adam0321

Joined
Aug 20, 2009
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So I have sleptin the woods quite a bit. More out of a tent then in one. Being in the Marines we will often patroll for hours/days and when you geta chance to rack out you just sit down and leand against your pack and get what you can for sleep. I guess the snakes never slithered up in my mind.

I am planning a trip to the grand canyon next month and plan to simply use a tarp and ground cloth as Iknow it will be pretty hot. I want tostart moving away from my tent and start using just a tarp. However i am terrified of waking up with a new bedmate. (snakes) I hate them. Any tricks or advice out there to keep them at bay while asleep? Fire? Rope around you (I think thats a myth) Moth balls?

Any adive welcome. Also looking for advice on a good bug net??

Thanks
 
From my experience, the best way to avoid new bedmates is to be proactive. Check your equipment, your sleeping bag, etc before crawling in. As many of the stories that go around, snakes really don't want to curl up next to you. If you're worried that they will crawl in to keep warm, bank your fire at night and that should leave them a nice cozy, much warmed area in which they can snuggle instead of between your toes. Just be sure to remember that in the morning, they might still be curled up there, waiting, watching with their snakey snake eyes and slithering tongues tasting the air, waiting for you to wake.

Sorry, had to throw that last bit in there. :)
 
cpurcell said:
From my experience, the best way to avoid new bedmates is to be proactive. Check your equipment, your sleeping bag, etc before crawling in. As many of the stories that go around, snakes really don't want to curl up next to you. If you're worried that they will crawl in to keep warm, bank your fire at night and that should leave them a nice cozy, much warmed area in which they can snuggle instead of between your toes. Just be sure to remember that in the morning, they might still be curled up there, waiting, watching with their snakey snake eyes and slithering tongues tasting the air, waiting for you to wake.

Sorry, had to throw that last bit in there. :)
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For the record, I've never come across anyone that this has actually happened to.
 
Snakes are pretty smart. They generally can recognize larger predators and instinctively know to stay away. If given a chance most snakes will leave you alone unless you force them to defend themselves.

Snakes seeking warmth and crawling into a sleeping bag, makes for good stories, but I have never heard it from a reliable source. I suspect snakes also know not to curl up next to a sleeping bear.

Ticks and bugs on the other hand seem fearless. I am not sure if repellants work on ticks (I think they do), but they seem to work well for everything else.
 
All great Ideas However think the fire ring might be a little drastic. I do love little animals and would love to know where I can get a pet mongoose. I can get a ferret but somehow I don’t think that will cut it. I was expecting this to turn into more of a joke. I guess I am a bit traumatized from the time my "friends" threw a dead rattle snake in the bag with me one night. I have also gotten up after a long sit against my pack while on a patrol in NC and when I got up there was a copperhead coiled between me and my pack.

I don’t mind sleeping in the open at all and actually prefer it. I just wanted to know if this was a realistic problem. Nice visual cpurcell, while I am the guy that watches a documentary on snakes then finds my self looking on the floor for them. I doubt my little camping trip will turn into a scene from a horror movie. However just in case it does and I do wake up with a bag full of creepy slithering serpents, If I live thru it I am going to post about it in hopes to make you all feel bad. :)

Thanks for the help, nice to know these are mostly just horror stories.
 
Around here Id be much more concerned with small mammals getting into my food, or possibly stepping on a scorpion at night (happened to my brother years ago).

Snakes are thick in central Missouri, but they have never bothered me. Simply move slow and allow them opportunity to go away and they usually will.
 
tiguy7 said:
Get a mongoose.
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Don't follow this bad advice!! I asked the same question sometime back and ended up getting a pet mongoose based on stupid advice like this. Long story short (literally) is my first outing the mongoose found a large snake in my sleeping bag and attacked it, except that was no snake. I now have to pee seating down and the mongoose has become my wife's favorite pet! That's what you get for listening to these so called internet experts!! :thumbdn:
 
I've hunted and slept outside in Az for over 30 years and while I've seen occasional rattlers, none have ever tried snuggling up to me while sleeping.
 
Adam,
I have never heard of Rattlesnakes crawling into a bag or approach a Human during the night. I have heard of them crawling into bags while empty. So the advice to check your gear before crawling or reaching in is the best. Also wild Fires are rampant here right now. From Grand Canyon Site:

"All wood burning AND charcoal fires, including campfires, warming fires and charcoal barbeques, are prohibited throughout the park except for the Colorado River corridor.

Visitors are reminded that in Grand Canyon National Park:
When hiking and camping below the rim, cookstoves may be used, but campfires are not allowed.
River users may only have campfires in elevated metal pans with a fire proof blanket underneath."​

Fire won't be much of an option.
Have fun, Be safe!
 
Halberdier, go see Piccolo Pete. He'll show you how to finger your "large" snake so you can pee standing up.
 
My friend Dave who I consider fairly reliable was bit on the big toe once by a copperhead while sleeping in a tent with the door open.
 
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