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Getting Bitten


YakDiver

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I was out geocaching last week and had to put my hand into holes to get the cache out and I was wondering has anybody ever been bitten my snakes or spiders.

I'm petrified of snakes I really am, I don't know why as I have only seen them from a distant swimming across a lake in this country and one very dead one in Aussie.

With the risk of these false widow spiders now in the UK that can leave nasty wounds (one in the papers last week) so has anybody been bitten ??

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I can think of four cases right off the top of my head. Three were in California, USA that landed the folks in the Emergency Room for antivenom treatment, and one of those three was severe enough to require an extended hospitalization (even held the world record for antivenom doses given for a short time). These all involved Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes. The fourth one was a friend visiting in Texas, USA and was bitten by a Copperhead.

 

All the incidents I've heard of related to Geocaching involved people reaching into spaces they couldn't see into. I always carry a hiking pole as a result of those stories, and if I don't feel safe retrieving a cache, I give it a pass and go to the next one.

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Yes, Ive been bitten by the bug. It was on the 05.03.2007. The Geocaching Bug. No seriously I have been bitten by ticks but that is all. We were in California for our Holiday this year, in Lancaster, and the first Thing our daughter did was take us to the living Museum near Bakersfield to Show us what crawled around the desert and then gave me a pole which I had with me all the time. Didnt see a single snake for the 3 weeks that we were there.

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Even in the relative safety of the UK, I try and retrieve a cache with my walking stick (where possible) from any holes, or wear heavy duty gardening gloves.

 

Having cached in Florida and Texas, I do try and avoid going off the paths, especially since I'm usually wearing, shorts and sandals, and it's too hot for gloves. Also, I'm aware there are far more deadly critters over there too.

 

So far, I've not been bitten by anything worse than a mosquito whilst caching in Florida (and that was bad enough).

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Carry a bright torch and a stick to poke around with..... in Australia, especially in summer, we don't blindly poke hands into holes anywhere......

 

As far as bites go - I've had innumerable mosquito bites, 2 bee stings, a few ant bites, and two ticks (one today!).... no snake bites. We always wear long trousers/boots, and gaiters when in remote areas.

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