be careful with THESE…

My father was bitten by a venomous snake when I was 15.  We thought it was only a bull snake, but it turned out to actually be a rattlesnake, and it might have turned out differently had known how to spot the baby rattlers which are common in Utah, where I grew up.  Baby snakes are however difficult to identify.

Sometimes it is difficult to I.D. which type of snake you have encountered, especially if you haven’t learned about the common ones, or studied their identifying features. Whether you’re bugging out or just on a hike when you discover a snake, or he discovers you, there’s no telling what may happen next if you don’t have a little bit of knowledge.

Most snakes are not venomous, but the one that bit my dad happened to be. Wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry and be confident you know which snake you are dealing with, just in case?

Certainly, venom can mean trouble, but even a bit from a non-venomous snake can present a threat. The largest threat to someone bitten by a snake is usually that the wound may become infected with the bacteria from the snake’s mouth. In other words, once get bit that bacteria is now on your skin and in the wound. With a venomous snake, even a small bite can cause the area around the wound to swell up a lot, and of course the venom can cause much more severe problems, so treat any snake with caution and respect.

On the next page learn how to identify the first snake on our list, the copperhead snake. You’ll learn where you may see this venomous snake slithering, too.

Then continue to learn about more venomous snakes. Doing so you may just save a life, possibly your own: 

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