Like A Loaded Gun On A Playground
I love the macho bravado in the air this time of year. We have on one hand every armchair quarterback giving his or her reviews of the most recent game—what season is it anyway? We have school pride in the air, fall hunting season in its beginning phases, and of course with the cooler temperatures coming, we have the last big movement of snakes. I often get tagged on social media in various images of snakes with people seeking a frantic identification. Usually, it is a picture of a mangled snake with someone asking for my postmortem identification of the slithering offender. Ninety-nine percent of the time the serpent in question is merely a harmless snake that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
There are a few rare occasions when someone sends me a picture of a copperhead, our most common local viper. When I inquire further, I typically find it met the sharp end of a garden tool. When pictures of decapitated pit vipers are posted online, they are usually met with heroic praise by the online peanut gallery. Such comments as “the only good snake is a dead snake” and “you’ve got to kill them ‘cause it’s like leaving a loaded gun on a playground” are simply absurd and rooted deeply in ignorance and fear.
I realize that some snakes carry venom that is potentially harmful, and even life threatening to humans. Let’s be honest, when was the last time you heard of someone being bitten by a viper that didn’t first harass the snake. I know of one occasion where a dear friend of mine was moving logs on a woodpile and got tagged on the leg by a copperhead. Thankfully he got a mostly dry bite—a bite with very little to no venom that serves as a warning shot. That seems to be a more unusual occurrence and not the norm.
Statistically most snakebite victims are males in their early twenties, and alcohol is typically involved. I imagine that most of those incidences probably start out with the phrase “hey buddy hold my beer and watch this.” You can avoid envenomation by simply letting the snake slink off to its much-preferred hiding spot. In the case of copperheads, their Latin name is Agkistrodon contortrix, and as the species name implies, they contort and writhe when people try to head pin them. This often results in a bite to the fingers or hand as the snake twists in their hands to free itself. Agkistrodon basically means “hook toothed,” so to reiterate, their Lain name basically means “hook toothed contortionist.” That should be enough reason for you not to want to handle them if you’re untrained.
After doing a quick internet search I saw that only around twelve people per year die from snake related injuries. Almost three times that number die yearly in the US from dog attacks. Can we use that same logic to villainize dogs? I mean the only good one is a dead one in my opinion—only not really. So why are snakes different than dogs in the public eye? Feral cats are ecological nightmares and decimate local bird, reptile, and mammal populations but if you kill one in the act you will be arrested for animal cruelty. If you kill a snake eating your chicken’s eggs you will be praised. Why the discrepancy?
October is breast cancer awareness month. Why the hard shift in topic? Medically we are finding benefits from snakes all of the time. Copperheads are used in cancer research, rattlesnake venom is used in heart and stroke medication, so on and so forth. With copperheads specifically, there is an experimental medication using enzymes from copperhead venom called Contortrostatin that has shown promise in treating many forms of cancer, with a focus on breast cancer. The way it works, essentially, is that it suppresses tumor growth and inhibits formation of new vessels from preexisting functional vessels.
What is the purpose of this rant? My heart is to show that we need not fear any animal, even the ones that can potentially cause us harm. With all of the advances in venom research and snake ecology we are learning so much about these maligned creatures. I would hate to think that we killed off our hopes for new medicines or stable ecosystems as a way to placate our innate fears. The snake you killed could be one that held the keys to save your life or the lives of your loved ones. In most cases if you give them a wide berth and let them go on their way, your chances of a negative interaction are next to zero. Snakes are valuable ecological assets, even venomous ones. They deserve to live just as we do.
Check out some more copperhead stories below:
