Collection hazards

[rockm]

Just because you're in the Appalachians not the Rockies, doesn't mean you won't run across some dangerous critters, possibly A LOT of dangerous critters. When Steve Irwin remarks on the numbers of venomous snakes in an area, you take notice. This is on or near the Skyline Drive in Va. (I'm pretty sure I know the approximate location)...If you hike or hunt in the area you WILL run into a timber rattlesnake at some point. If you're collecting trees lower down the Appalachians, you should keep an eye out for these.

 

[Cajunrider]

My eyes are always out for water moccasins and pygmy rattlers in my area.

 

[BrianBay9]

Rattlesnakes and bears on some of my trips. But the biggest risks I have are poison oak and ticks. Poison oak is annoying but ticks can ruin your life.

 

[rockm]

Rattlesnakes and bears on some of my trips. But the biggest risks I have are poison oak and ticks. Poison oak is annoying but ticks can ruin your life.

Ticks carrying disease are pretty much a given on the east coast. we are lyme disease central, far more of a threat here than in the West. I've been given antibiotic treatments for it twice. I have been bitten repeatedly, sometimes dozens of times in a single outing (nymph ticks are the worst, can't see them and they bite multiple times). Bears are becoming as common as ticks in the Blue Ridge (After being decimated by gall bladder poachers in the 90's). We get a few adolescent cubs even here in the D.C. surburbs every spring. Coyotes too.

 

[19Mateo83]

I have run across timber rattlers, copper heads and water moccasins in uwharrie national forest and in areas around Charlotte. More species than most people think live closer than they think. It always pays to be careful and carry a walking stick when collecting. It’s nice to be able to poke in suspicious areas.

 

[Gabler]

Coyotes are common here on the Delmarva Peninsula, but they’re shy and flee from humans. They’re only really dangerous to sheep and fowl.

I have encountered precisely one venomous snake here in my 27 years of traipsing through the woods every day during my free time. A northern copperhead. Possibly (although rarely) deadly to children and pets, but not typically life-threatening if you’re an average-sized adult. It’ll certainly ruin your day, probably your week, maybe the next month as your bite wound heals.

Ticks are everywhere. I’ve had Lyme disease twice, to my knowledge. Fortunately, I spotted the bull’s eye rash each time. It‘s not what I’d consider a deadly disease, bug the neurological symptoms can render you functionally disabled. In rare cases (typically women), it can be persistent, requiring a year or more of daily antibiotic treatment. Not fun. There’s also those new “lone star” ticks which can give you an allergy to meat from mammals. Anaphylaxis can certainly be deadly.

The most ubiquitous hazard by far is poison ivy. The more often you’re exposed, the worse the allergy becomes. I’ve had it so many time that now when I get it, my skin sloughs off in the affected area. Very painful, but not deadly. I have gotten a secondary infection that went septic (a.k.a. blood poisoning) in spite of frequent washing with rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, and it required sulfur antibiotics in treatment. I was very sick.

I’ve also encountered six rabbid raccoons and bats (confirmed by Maryland DNR autopsy), but they’re easy to spot and easy to outrun, since rabies impacts muscle coordination. They are weirdly hard to kill. It’s a bit like a zombie movie where you have to shoot them three or four times in the brain (with a hollow point) before they seem to notice.

 

[Cajunrider]

When collecting BCs I just have to worry about water moccasins and possibly gators. From a cajun's view point the former is not edible, the latter is tasty.

 

[19Mateo83]

When collecting BCs I just have to worry about water moccasins and possibly gators. From a cajun's view point the former is not edible, the latter is tasty.

Tree and a meal, win win

 

[Cajunrider]

Tree and a meal, win win

As long as I have the tag to collect the gators hahaha.

 

[rockm]

Coyotes are common here on the Delmarva Peninsula, but they’re shy and flee from humans. They’re only really dangerous to sheep and fowl.

I have encountered precisely one venomous snake here in my 27 years of traipsing through the woods every day during my free time. A northern copperhead. Possibly (although rarely) deadly to children and pets, but not typically life-threatening if you’re an average-sized adult. It’ll certainly ruin your day, probably your week, maybe the next month as your bite wound heals.

Ticks are everywhere. I’ve had Lyme disease twice, to my knowledge. Fortunately, I spotted the bull’s eye rash each time. It‘s not what I’d consider a deadly disease, bug the neurological symptoms can render you functionally disabled. In rare cases (typically women), it can be persistent, requiring a year or more of daily antibiotic treatment. Not fun. There’s also those new “lone star” ticks which can give you an allergy to meat from mammals. Anaphylaxis can certainly be deadly.

The most ubiquitous hazard by far is poison ivy. The more often you’re exposed, the worse the allergy becomes. I’ve had it so many time that now when I get it, my skin sloughs off in the affected area. Very painful, but not deadly. I have gotten a secondary infection that went septic (a.k.a. blood poisoning) in spite of frequent washing with rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, and it required sulfur antibiotics in treatment. I was very sick.

I’ve also encountered six rabbid raccoons and bats (confirmed by Maryland DNR autopsy), but they’re easy to spot and easy to outrun, since rabies impacts muscle coordination. They are weirdly hard to kill. It’s a bit like a zombie movie where you have to shoot them three or four times in the brain (with a hollow point) before they seem to notice.

Coyotes are not really dangerous, unless you're a housecat, or the damn thing is rabid...Which isn't uncommon, given that rabies in foxes and raccoons around here IS common.

Fairfax Co. police officer kills suspected rabid coyote after attack - WTOP News

A Fairfax County police officer shot and killed a suspected rabid coyote on Sunday in the area surrounding Lake Accotink Park.

wtop.com

Poison Ivy solution--Don't try to wash it off with warm water and soap, you will only spread the irritating oil inthe sap

Tecnu Extreme Poison Ivy Scrub | Tecnu

Tecnu Extreme Poison Ivy Scrub is the crucial first step in effective poison ivy and oak rash treatment by effectively removing the rash causing oil.

teclabsinc.com

Get ticks off without pulling them and leaving their heads---Listerine is your friend

Mouthwash Kills Ticks on Contact

Mouthwash may kill ticks on contact, but dermatologists still recommend removing them with a firm and steady pull using tweezers. Do NOT burn a tick!

www.peoplespharmacy.com

 

[ShadyStump]

I've been living here more than 25 years and have never once had a negative experience with rattlesnakes or scorpions like so many people talk about. Either I'm just lucky or I'm oblivious.
Anyone who knows me puts their money on the latter.

Read an article some years back that said that coyotes are actually more common now than in pre-Columbian times. The loss of wolves as a competitor for food, and their adaptation to humans has helped their numbers grow by almost 5 fold.
That bit of info has really impacted my life philosophy.

Too dry for poison oak/ivy/sumac here in most places. Pretty sure I'm immune anyway. Dig through the exact same bush as someone else at the same time; next time I see them they're covered in rashes and calamine, but I never noticed a thing.
Never had problems with ticks here, but I know folks who have. I've used wood ash in my hair to keep them away while camping when I forgot bugs pray. Not recommended as a routine thing; ruins your sleek locks. @rockm is right about their prevalence on the east coast, and I'll add fleas to that. Can't step under a tree without catching a tick, and a walk through the grass is like watching tiny black popcorn kernels.

Here cactus is a real concern for everyone. Get a barb stuck in your skin and it will fester fast. The super fine ones will stay in you for days, some times weeks. Those comfy hiking boots from the store practically attract the spines. Any off trail movement, and I recommend full leather with a heavy, hard sole.

 

[BrianBay9]

Get ticks off without pulling them and leaving their heads---Listerine is your friend

Mouthwash Kills Ticks on Contact

Mouthwash may kill ticks on contact, but dermatologists still recommend removing them with a firm and steady pull using tweezers. Do NOT burn a tick!

www.peoplespharmacy.com

Good tip. A long dip in a well-chlorinated hot tub works well too.

 

[Flowerhouse]

Where I collect there are timber rattlers, bears, hanta virus bearing rodents. Ticks are rare. Stepping into a clump of J communis would be a prickly nasty hazard.
Gotta say, Steve Irwin is legend in my immediate family. I f-ing love that guy.

 

[rockm]

Where I collect there are timber rattlers, bears, hanta virus bearing rodents. Ticks are rare. Stepping into a clump of J communis would be a prickly nasty hazard.
Gotta say, Steve Irwin is legend in my immediate family. I f-ing love that guy.

If you're in Wyoming, they ain't timber rattlesnakes (crotalus horridus). The species doesn't go further west than eastern Nebraska. You've got Prairie and midget faded rattlesnakes--midget faded are very interesting as a species. They have neurotoxin poison not hemotoxins as most rattlesnakes and pit vipers do..

 

[rockm]

I've been living here more than 25 years and have never once had a negative experience with rattlesnakes or scorpions like so many people talk about. Either I'm just lucky or I'm oblivious.
Anyone who knows me puts their money on the latter.

Read an article some years back that said that coyotes are actually more common now than in pre-Columbian times. The loss of wolves as a competitor for food, and their adaptation to humans has helped their numbers grow by almost 5 fold.
That bit of info has really impacted my life philosophy.

Too dry for poison oak/ivy/sumac here in most places. Pretty sure I'm immune anyway. Dig through the exact same bush as someone else at the same time; next time I see them they're covered in rashes and calamine, but I never noticed a thing.
Never had problems with ticks here, but I know folks who have. I've used wood ash in my hair to keep them away while camping when I forgot bugs pray. Not recommended as a routine thing; ruins your sleek locks. @rockm is right about their prevalence on the east coast, and I'll add fleas to that. Can't step under a tree without catching a tick, and a walk through the grass is like watching tiny black popcorn kernels.

Here cactus is a real concern for everyone. Get a barb stuck in your skin and it will fester fast. The super fine ones will stay in you for days, some times weeks. Those comfy hiking boots from the store practically attract the spines. Any off trail movement, and I recommend full leather with a heavy, hard sole.

Funny thing about coyotes in the east. They tend to be wolf/coyote hybrids here. They can be larger--up to 50 lbs heavier-- than a "regular" coyote and can take down deer.

Coywolves Are Taking Over Eastern North America

Coywolves are not 'shy wolves'—they are coyote-wolf hybrids (with some dog mixed in) and now number in the millions

www.smithsonianmag.com

Coyote-Wolf Hybrids Have Spread Across U.S. East

Coyotes with wolf DNA have been found in Virginia, confirming the hybrids' spread through the mid-Atlantic, a new study says.

www.nationalgeographic.com

 

[Kanorin]

All of these reasons make collecting in February - early March pretty ideal where I live.
Tics? Asleep
Bears? Asleep
Snakes? Asleep...even if you do find one by accident its gonna be real slow.
Poison ivy? Doesn't have leaves

 

[rockm]

All of these reasons make collecting in February - early March pretty ideal where I live.
Tics? Asleep
Bears? Asleep
Snakes? Asleep...even if you do find one by accident its gonna be real slow.
Poison ivy? Doesn't have leaves

Yup. Exactly!

 

[BrianBay9]

Forgot hunters.....when I lived in Wisconsin in particular I had to be very aware of the hunting seasons and often wore high visibility vests. Seems like every year some knucklehead was shooting blindly at movement in the brush.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Ticks carrying disease are pretty much a given on the east coast. we are lyme disease central, far more of a threat here than in the West. I've been given antibiotic treatments for it twice. I have been bitten repeatedly, sometimes dozens of times in a single outing (nymph ticks are the worst, can't see them and they bite multiple times). Bears are becoming as common as ticks in the Blue Ridge (After being decimated by gall bladder poachers in the 90's). We get a few adolescent cubs even here in the D.C. surburbs every spring. Coyotes too.

I've had Tick Borne Encephalitis and I barely lived to tell.. It's increasingly common around this part of Europe, not sure if it's a thing in the US.
Couldn't do basic math for about a year afterwards and had a lot of trouble reading. That year, two people died within a week or two after being bitten by a tick.

Symptoms include fever, dizziness, hungover without drinking, feeling buzzed without drinking, stiff neck and shoulders.. If you experience these symptoms and can't stretch your arm and touch your nose with your eyes closed: Rush yourself to the ER because your window is about 0.5 - 8 hours before total brain death if not treated.

 

[Flowerhouse]

If you're in Wyoming, they ain't timber rattlesnakes (crotalus horridus). The species doesn't go further west than eastern Nebraska. You've got Prairie and midget faded rattlesnakes--midget faded are very interesting as a species. They have neurotoxin poison not hemotoxins as most rattlesnakes and pit vipers do..

Thanks, it's always good to learn new stuff. Looks like where I live, and where I collect in Colorado, are both in Prairie rattlesnake range.