Snake Sleeping???

[Hanshi]

Eight types of pit viper!?  Wow, what are they?

[Mongo40]

I avoid it here in SW Okla by only going primitive camping during the winter when all them snakes an bugs are asleep. I can't stand to camp in the summer unless I'm in a trailer or something with controlled climate, nothing worse to me than laying there trying to sleep an sweating, to many years of doing it in the Army I guess, But my brother an I do love to go during the winter, when there's nothing out an the fire feels good.

[gordy]

Eight types of pit viper!?  Wow, what are they?

        Because of the different eco-systems you encounter going from Salt Flats on up  to Carlsbad NM they have favorible conditions for them all. The ones I,ve encountered over a period of years are the pigmy, diamond back, prarrie rattler , black tail . these are the normal every day guys and according to the experts there are 4 others that may show up . Don,t know the scienctific name, but they all can put a hurtin on ya .
                                                                         

[dusty hill]

so how many members have awakened to a snake in bed. and how many have been bitten in or out of bed lets get an accurate accounting here

[gordy]

           I don,t know about other folks , but between W.Tx. and Florida  I have spent much time in their habitat. Have I ever been bitten NO. In all my life I,ve only known two people  who suffered bites. However I can,t say that for black widows and brown reclouse Spiders . Have had encounters with a BW in Mississpppi and one inTx. and just recently spent 8 days in the hosp. from a BR . It seems that we tend to tread lightly and keep our eyes peeled for snakes much more then other varments .
                                                                                           

[shane37110]

I always put fresh ashes from the fire around my sleeping area. My dad always said their natural fear of fire would keep them from crossing the ashes. Had to be fresh though.

[azwidget]

I'm with Gordy on this. Having camped, hiked and explored caves all over Arizona, New Mexico and Northern Mexico, I've seen my share of poisonous snakes. Never had a friend or acquaintance bitten. We respect 'em and leave 'em alone.

I have a feeling that we project our own fear of snakes onto the snake itself... That said, I can tell stories of a guy who sat on a rattler in the entrance to a cave, a friend who stepped on a rattler who was crossing his path unseen at dusk, and I had lunch sitting on a boulder I shared with a rattler in a resting coil. I was dumbfounded when I saw him lift his head and give a big yawn! And none of us were bitten.

Scorpions, on the other hand, totally freak me out! Was camping in SW Texas near the Mexican border. It was dusk; we threw our gear on the ground and started fixing dinner. As it grew darker, one of the guys lit a coleman lantern. Within 10 minutes, we were literally surrounded by  hundreds of scorpions approaching the light, each pair of green eyes glowing. We got all the gear back in the truck as quickly as we could, and slept in the truck. Next morning I found a pack that we'd missed laying on the ground. It had been firmly zippered closed. Dumped it out and the contents included 2 scorpions...

I've shared my bed with some strange critters (no comments, please) but the worst by far was the small straw colored scorpion who climbed into bed with me and bit me twice while I was staying with a friend in Tucson. These guys are EVERYWHERE in the Sonoran desert. Not unusual to see one cruise across the carpeted floor in the evening.The little straw colored ones can kill ya...
Anyway, I felt it crawling around under the covers, but didn't feel the bites right away, being in only a semi awake state. Finally decided to see what was going on; flipped the covers back, and saw the little straw colored scorpion scuttle for cover. Grabbed a slipper and smacked that little "bicho" (Mexican border slang for bug) into oblivion.
The pain of the two bites increased in intensity as the day went on - like a hot icepick stabbing - and the next day it was totally gone.

Watch out for the bugs - they pack a wallop for the tiny size - ya usually cant see them. They are everywhere....waiting...