These guys hang out at the base of cliffs throughout the southeast, so rock climbers get to know them pretty well.
When you spend an entire day watching the same snake ignore people walking by and basically not moving, they seem a lot less scary. Copperheads are super, super chill compared to rattlesnakes. Which is good, because they’re everywhere (whether or not you see 'em!).
There’s a reason they’re popular among pentecostal snake handlers. Even when you need to move one off a climb/trail with a stick, they typically let you pick them up without complaining. Short of stepping on one they won’t bother you, and even then they’re not gonna kill you. A lot of the time they bite dry anyway.
Definitely gets your attention when you pull over a ledge and come eye to eye with one, though!
We were in Florida in 2020 right before covid went crazy. We found a 10 mile loop that was loaded with alligators. We were unsure of doing the hike when we ran into a local that had been hiking the loop for years. He explained that the alligators don’t really care about us. He said the trick was to start early to complete the loop before the sun was above the trees because once that happened the gators would be on the trail including blocking the trail but not to worry you can walk right past them and even step over them.
We head out the next morning and sure enough as the sun tracked accross the trial the gators came out.
When we encountered the first one we debated turning back but no guts no glory and we pushed ahead. I have photos of my wife just a couple feet away from one gator, the look on her face is priceless. That second gator was the only time we felt in danger, we got too close to her babies and she let us know.
