Learning to field herp

[Bel5191]

Hi all, new member here. I want to get into field herping. There's a lot of snakes around where I live that are non-venomous that I want to primarily practice with. That being said, I live in the eastern US (Pennsylvania) and have rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) and copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen) literally in my backyard. I would like to go out and catch some and photograph them (I just sent for the appropriate permit). I have ZERO intention of actually pinning and picking either species up with my hands, just use tongs/hooks to position them. I have no intention of keeping either species as I'm not a snake keeper and certainly not starting with hots. I would plan to handle as many non-venomous species as I can.

So tell me, if I get snake boots, chaps, tongs, hook and tubes (with no intention of actually putting myself in striking distance at any point), am I asking to get tagged? I know that nothing prepares you for handling snakes like handling snakes and working with them (non-venomous) is how you learn to be super-careful, but could a careful person with no desire to be a hotshot do this with a degree of safety? I have researched copperheads and rattlesnakes so I know about them, and with my volunteer fire department I usually see a couple people get flown for copperhead bites every summer.

I don't know how to find a knowledgeable and safe herper in my area or I would contact them. Any suggestions/ideas welcome :)

[infernalis]

A camera with a big zoom lens.

[Bel5191]

So what if I scratch the venomous part out of the equation?

[Bel5191]

I think I have sufficiently scared myself reading about other members handling hots :sorry:

[millertime89]

there's no such thing as "safe" when it comes to hots. Like Wayne said, the best way to view hots is either through a clear, protective barrier or from a distance with either binoculars or a telephoto lens. I personally wouldn't want to disturb a wild hot and I don't think anyone else should either unless its strictly for scientific purposes. But hey, that's just my opinion.

[SnakeyJay]

I don't keep hots but my opinion is it can't ever be done "safely" but it can be done sensibly. Obviously the most sensible thing to do is handle the non hots and don't position or disturb any venemous you find :D good luck.

[Roadtrash]

Even the non hots are going to bite but at least there you can just clean it up and put a little something on it and not worry. Leave the wild hots until you have a lot of practice with the non hots and even then if you don"t NEED to pick it up leave the hot alone. Been close a couple of times myself and it scared the ^^^^^ out of me.