Okeedoke....copied from my original post at DG...this happened in July....
" Well,...after all these years of encountering Copperheads through my lifetime...and always coming out on top (i.e.- copperhead dispatched)...the little scoundrels finally got a shot in,,,in the dark. Friday night at about 11:45pm,...I went outside to roll up my truck windows...yes, I was barefooted...like I usually am...but failed to turn on the outside light...as I was about to enter the backdoor (beneath a covered parking)...I stepped on a baby (@ 6-7" long) on the concrete slab...and it nailed me...on top of my right foot - near my little toe.
Thought I'd ride it out...thinkin' that it wasn't going to be pleasant... but I didn't believe my life would be in danger Hmmmmm...it all boils down to...I'm not as tough as I'd like to think I am...my "bulletproof" days are long gone...such a sad moment of enlightenment. I lasted about an hour & half...and decided to take myself to the Emergency Room for a little morphine...just to get me by,...you understand?
All foolishness aside,... The pain was pretty rough...starting at the joints of where my toes met my foot,...then the ankle,...and then the heel...the swelling was fairly bad...my foot became about 2-3 times bigger around, at one point...skin so sensitive...it very painful just to softly touch the skin. The swelling advanced up my leg to about mid-calf,...mostly on the same lateral side the bite was on...one analogy I've used to describe the pain was ...if you can imagine how it would feel ...for someone to slap the bottom of your foot with a baseball bat (swung as hard as one could) and doing that several times and then having a truck run over the same foot...maybe slightly crushing it...all that together combined to make your entire foot look and feel like a very large painfully sensitive bruise...throbbing unbearably unless keeping the entire foot elevated at least to the same level as yr heart...(relief that way is so precious)...THEN you would be very close to the same level of pain I experienced.
I've been attacked & bitten by about 4-5 dogs (perforations included),...scratched and bitten by numerous cats,...bitten by a squirrel, other snakes(non-venomous), lizards of all types (including a Caiman)...fish of all types (flounder's needle-like teeth were very painful...as well as a gar's)...I've been kicked by a horse and stepped on a couple of times,...cow-kicked a couple of times,...butted and knocked down a few times by goats & sheep...pinched numerous times by Atlantic Blue Crab...as well as various crayfish (crawdads down here) ...stung by Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish .
Each of which,...in their own way,... caused me varied degrees of discomfort/pain...but I'd take one of each of these,...one by one...in a row...before I'd go through the lil' baby copperhead bite again...(this,...all assuming,...that I had a choice ) (smile)
I gladly medicated my nervous system last night...without guilt,...and am proud to be aware of and declare that... I...will...LIVE.!!!
BTW...I wouldn't recommend tryin' this at YOUR home...or anyone else's home for that matter. It is not for...uhmmm hmmm...sissies
Trust me! Lee"
As a young fella thru into my teens.....herpetology was a hobby of mine....I've caught & handled each type of poisonous snake....not every species but
every type - i.e. Copperhead, Rattlesnake(s), Coral Snake & Cottonmouth/Water Moccasin. I was the "oddball" bookworm of the family that collected and preserved insects, reptiles, amphibians,fish, etc and every year during reunions,family get-togethers,....my relatives (that weren't afraid) would tour my room to veiw my latest additions to my "museum" - Never snake bitten by a poisonous snake.....until 45-50 yrs later,...go figure!