No matter how safe you are, it pays to bring a first aid kit. You never know when it may save your life!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nMyths About Snakes While Camping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Myths exist for nearly every aspect of the natural world. It’s not always clear why the myths exist, but it’s very important to know which myths have true aspects and which are completely false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having a greater understanding of the myths that surround snakes can help you to avoid them, or at least be safer around them! Keep the following myths and truths in mind for your next camping trip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Angry Snake Will Chase You<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Think about nearly any horror or thriller movie you’ve seen. When the villain suddenly pops out, the victim’s instinct is to run away. This is true regardless of the size of the villain, but especially true if it’s a huge monster or animal on the prowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same concept is true for snakes. If at all possible, they want to slither away to safety before doing anything else. The vast majority of the time, a snake you startle will try to get away rather than attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typically, a snake will only attack if they feel that they cannot escape. For example, if you’re walking along a trail and accidentally step on a snake, they may turn and bite as a means of getting you off them so they can escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, there are a handful of snakes that may give chase. These include snakes like the bushmaster of Central America. However, the vast majority of snakes, especially in America, will seek to escape rather than attack or chase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rattlesnakes Will Always Rattle Before Biting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
While rattlesnakes will often rattle as a defense mechanism, there’s something very important to keep in mind about these snakes. When rattlesnakes began to develop rattles, it wasn’t for the sake of warning humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, the rattles were intended to keep larger animals like horses, cattle and bison from stepping on them. Because snakes detect those coming towards them using the vibrations in the ground, it can be difficult for them to locate a human coming towards them. They are used to feeling for the vibrations of animals that might weigh 800lbs or more, so trying to detect a human under 200lbs isn’t as likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This concept is doubly true for children that are under 100lbs. The snakes may not sense their vibrations quickly enough, and the child has stepped on them or gotten to close without either side noticing quickly enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of this fact, it’s important to watch where you and your children are walking very carefully. Don’t expect a rattlesnake to always sound its presence before lunging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’re Safe From Snake Bites Underwater<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It’s natural to think that since we are slowed by water, the power of a snake’s lunge would be as well. However, that doesn’t mean that we are completely safe, especially in areas that are home to snakes who frequently hunt underwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some types of snakes may be less comfortable than others in the water, but all snakes are capable of swimming. There are many who may just use the water as a means to get away or get where they are going. Not all snakes hunt underwater or can hold their breath for as long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there are plenty of snakes that are perfectly comfortable in the water. Species like the Copperhead regularly hunt for fish and other underwater creatures. As you can imagine, their bite is relatively unaffected by being underwater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knowing this, it’s worthwhile to consider what kinds of snakes spend time around the water you want to swim in. Additionally, always keep a lookout for snakes in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baby Snakes Have The Most Venom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It’s uncertain why this is such a prominent myth, but it’s one that is largely untrue. Snakes that are older and larger typically have venom that is more potent, or at least on par with the babies. This can vary somewhat depending on the species, but is generally the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, larger snakes have a greater amount of venom to make use of. That means that more venom will be delivered to prey or attackers with each bite. On the other hand, the amount is quite limited for babies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The one aspect that might result in babies being seen as more dangerous lies within their lack of experience. Baby snakes will be more likely to bite right away and try to deliver as much venom as they can. On the other hand, adults with more experience understand the need to ration venom. Instead of biting immediately, they will often try to intimidate or escape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Generally speaking, it’s more likely that you’ll be bitten by a younger snake than an older one. However, it’s important to be very careful regardless of snake you’re dealing with!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sleeping in a tent is a unique experience, but could a fear of snakes keep you from truly enjoying it? Although it is technically possible for a snake to bite<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":32,"label":"Safety"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/coral_snake_highlighted-1024x630.jpg",640,394,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Peter","author_link":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/author\/outsidedecider\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":32,"name":"Safety","slug":"safety","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":32,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":24,"count":8,"filter":"raw","term_order":"3","cat_ID":32,"category_count":8,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Safety","category_nicename":"safety","category_parent":24}],"tag_info":false,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1412"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7779,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412\/revisions\/7779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}