enjoyed the sneak snake video, I like me some TomTHall, the pride of Olive Hill Kentucky, never seen any sneaky snakes on tygart’s creek though. I don’t like snakes and I’m the son of a herpetologist! Best advice, watch where you step. Occasionally I’ve seen water snakes zipping around or going across the river but never felt threatened. Here in west virginia we have our share of copperheads and rattlesnakes. My count is probably up around 30 by now. Pretty common along the New and Gauley Rivers, I just watch where I step and I wear shoes. Yes, occasionally people do get bit but don’t know anyone that died from a bite but do know a five year old who died from a mosquito bite after playing in her yard (LaCross Encephalitis). My mom got Lymes disease from a tick. High grass areas might be somewhere you want to avoid for all those reasons- ticks, mosquitos, snakes, but the river or lake are pretty good to go,
In 5 years of paddling in New Jersey I’ve only ever seen 2 harmless brown water snakes.
Check out Astral Designs PFDs (Personal Flotation Devices/life jackets). They are favored by many ladies on this forum, and by my fairly well endowed wife.
The best way to conquer an irrational fear of snakes is to learn about them. A quick Google search will turn up plenty of information about the snakes in your region. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with them, find a zoo or other facility where you can see them and (hopefully) handle some non-venomous species. Once you understand them, your fear will ease and you can just maintain an appropriate level of caution. Keeping your distance from them in the wild is simply polite.
Thank you for your feedback, it eased the fears a bit. We live in northeastern nc so we do have some bad snakes. We do live near a swamp but snakes on land to me are different than water in evade and dissuade. Im a chicken lol.
Thank you for the info about the life jackets as well!
@Monkeyhead said:
I’m afraid I have nothing informative to add. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MchhtofbgJI
I needed sneaky snake this morn… 
Thx
I grew up next to a swamp in Charleston ,SC. From an early age it was our playhouse. I only remember 2 snake incidents from all those years.
One was a cottonmouth that I almost stepped on crossing a log… He showed me the cotton mouth and I showed him a load of #6 shot. Kinda wish I hadn’t done that.
The other was a copperhead that came after us on a path. We ran away.
Snakes get aggressive in the spring .
At some point I started rescuing non poisonous ones from people who were afraid or about to kill them.
Just realize that even the poisonous ones are not interested in you and will only bite in self defense. Their poison is the way they capture food and they know you are too big to eat.
I love the outdoors, and I’ve seen at least one of every type of venomous snake on the east coast. That said, they aren’t very often sighted. Watch where you put your hands and feet, allow your footsteps to be heavier than normal when in the brush, don’t move or turn over logs or rocks without diligence. Don’t scare a snake, and it won’t scare you!
The only time snakes have been a problem was when I was messing with them.
On getting back in the boat… people often find canoes to be more challenging to re-enter from the water than kayaks. Taller side, no flat deck to sprawl on… it can be done but best to assume that you will have find some guidance and do some practice. Worse that happens is you find it easy and get to brag about it. Until then stay where you can walk/swim the boat and you to shore.
Ms Muddy, I think northeastern NC is paddling nirvana – those beautiful blackwater rivers and swamps. The Cashie River at Windsor – what a treasure! Easy paddling too. Virtually no current. (Have not seen a snake there.)
I’m thinking you could find some kayak instruction fairly nearby, over on the Outer Banks in Nags Head or Kitty Hawk. You could ask for leads at the outfitters over there. (I don’t know them personally but have run into competent-seeming guides.) You would gain a lot of confidence from learning how to get yourself back in your kayak if you ever fell out.
And you mentioned your son is a Scout? Nice canoe camping for Scouts would be at Merchants Millpond State Park, which has paddle-in campsites (and alligators!) and in the Dismal Swamp at the little dam at the start of Lake Drummond. You can camp for free on the lawn there. The paddle up the Feeder Ditch is sheltered.
Good luck!!! Don’t worry anymore about the snakes.
I have lived in Arizona most of my life.
I have done tours in jungles and deserts all over the world.
In all this decades, I have seen exactly 3 snakes.
- a rattlesnake hiding under a bush. And I saw that only because two women were standing by that bush screaming and terrifying that poor snake.
- a garter snake swimming across a bay on a lake.
- another garter snake eating tadpoles in a mudhole in town after a rainstorm.
Snakes are very good at avoiding and hiding from people so I never worry about them.
Most snakes are harmless, and the few that are venomous mean us no harm, only wanting to be left alone. The more I’ve learned about snakes, the more I appreciate the important role they play in the environment, their amazing adaptations, and their beauty.
I get to handle nonvenomous snakes frequently as a part of one of my volunteer jobs, educating people about snakes. Education dispels many fears, and I recommend Whit Gibbons’ Snakes of the Eastern United States.
As a paddler in Florida, I see snakes just about every time I paddle. But I’m looking for them, as one of my hobbies is photographing snakes. Most people I saw on the Silver River yesterday probably did not see a snake. I saw over 30. Here are four of them: Peninsula Ribbon Snake, Yellow Rat Snake, Brown Water Snakes
@sissy103 said:
Peninsula Ribbon Snake nice one there. Great photos too! Here are a couple of Brown Water Snake shots in trees.
@sissy103 said:
Most snakes are harmless, and the few that are venomous mean us no harm, only wanting to be left alone. The more I’ve learned about snakes, the more I appreciate the important role they play in the environment, their amazing adaptations, and their beauty.I get to handle nonvenomous snakes frequently as a part of one of my volunteer jobs, educating people about snakes. Education dispels many fears, and I recommend Whit Gibbons’ Snakes of the Eastern United States.
As a paddler in Florida, I see snakes just about every time I paddle. But I’m looking for them, as one of my hobbies is photographing snakes. Most people I saw on the Silver River yesterday probably did not see a snake. I saw over 30. Here are four of them: Peninsula Ribbon Snake, Yellow Rat Snake, Brown Water Snakes
The Silver is a great place to paddle in spring. Newborn critters of all kinds around every bend.
Snakes are cold-blooded so they will be least active early in the morning when all they want to do is find a good rock in the sun and warm up. You could also get snake gaiters or chaps to wear for peace of mind.
Sissy is the snake whisperer… I have paddled with her. While I blithely drift by unknowing she hones in on the best camoflaged snake… then asks me… “Did you see that”?
I feel inferior.
She may well have gotten interested by actually handling them. Seems like in a safe environment with mentors ensuring your safety this is a good way to overcome fears.
Hey muddybunz your plan to learn about kayaking with a friend is perfect.
A pfd that is designed for paddling does not interfere with your movement so it will not get in the way of a kayak re-entry. In addition it’s essential that you wear a pfd so that you don’t create a safety risk for other people that now need to worry about the one without a pfd.
Ladies don’t get in the way if a group capsizes. In my experience ladies are more safety conscious than men and are generally a good influence on group paddles but more generally this just isn’t a gender topic. Best to take classes than listen to some confident guy tell you the wrong thing to do.
Kayamedic is right in that it appears that one can desensitize fear of snakes through exposure. You might contact your local nature center…ours has snakes and experts that would be happy to meet with you. According to Google fear of snakes affects a lot of people. Although my wife’s brother keeps snakes and was president of Chicago Herp Society I choose not to handle snakes. But I’ve had lots of encounters including stepping on one, stepping very close to a few, finding one hanging on a branch right over me, and nearly bumping into a big black rat snake that was climbing down our landscaping. I’ve never seen any aggression so my desensitization came from personal experience. it can be startling to see a snake but remember they have very short arms and legs so they can’t reach very far or run very fast…plus (just like snapping turtles) they simply are not looking for trouble since that is not a good survival strategy.
Rat snakes, black and red, are usually pretty docile. I have handled se