No creature on Planet Earth inspires a wider range of opinions among humans than snakes.

The world can be pretty neatly divided into those with a deep-rooted fear of snakes and those who tolerate their existence or, in some cases, actually like having them around.

"With snakes, in some people it's an inborn fear, others it's a learned fear," said Mike Turnage, manager at Paul B. Johnson State Park. "I don't have a problem with them myself. In fact, I keep four at my house."

Snakes are naturally creatures of the outdoors, in most cases. But not always.

"A couple of years ago, my wife was coming in our house and she had some boxes in the corner of our garage that she was going to move," said Southern Miss baseball coach Corky Palmer. "This copperhead was lying up behind this one box and it bit her in the finger.

"When they got her to the hospital, they put her on some anti-venom, two bags worth back-to-back. She stayed in ICU at Wesley for two days and was on the floor for another couple of days. To this day, she doesn't have much feeling in that finger. He clamped down on her pretty hard."

Snake attacks in the home, however, are rare. But with plenty of wooded area and a population that enjoys outdoor activities, snakes can be a problem in South Mississippi.

"It's a matter of time; if you spend enough time in the woods, you're going to encounter a snake," said Dr. Brian Mitchell of the Forestry Department at Jones Junior College. "The majority of snakes we encounter in the woods in Mississippi are poisonous, so being able to recognize the different environments for snakes is important."

In North America, there are four classes of poisonous snakes: rattlesnakes, copperheads, water moccasins (or cottonmouths) and coral snakes.

Of those, coral snakes are usually only found in sub-tropical areas, but the other three can be found in most areas in Mississippi.

"All of these are pit vipers, and they've got their own personalities and their own environments where they thrive," Mitchell said. "Cottonmouths are the most predictable, while copperheads are a little bit less predictable. I've seen them coiled in trees and I've seen them on the ground. Rattlesnakes in this area, you know are going to be found primarily in stump holes in upland woods."

Cottonmouths are creatures that need a moist, watery environment, while rattlesnakes and copperheads tend to stay in drier areas.

"Cottonmouths need an interface between land and water," Mitchell said. "They're usually found in very swampy areas. They're going to be near water."

Generally, snakes are as afraid of humans as humans are of snakes.

"If they see you coming, they'll leave you alone," said Brad Pickering of Hattiesburg, an avid longtime hunter. "They're not out to strike you unless you disturb them."

Of course, when humans venture into the outdoors, they are usually entering the snake's domain.

"We're intruding on their habitat," Turnage said. "When you work in a recreational setting, there are really no measures you can take to keep from having a close encounter with snakes. We're in their environment."

Almost every hunter who ever entered the field usually has one lively tale of such a close encounter. Pickering told of one he had while on an elk hunting expedition to Colorado with his friend David Bogle. And it offers a lesson in preparedness.

"It was a couple of days before the season opened, so we didn't have any weapons with us," Pickering said. "We were just scouting for elk through some scrub oaks and sagebrush, about waist-high David was about three feet ahead of me coming down this mountain headed back to camp.

"Earlier in the day, I'd seen this deer shed, a little four-point. The assumption is that David brushed past this bush and by the time I got to it, this snake came across my left foot and struck my right boot. I was jumping up and down, beating this snake off me with the deer horn."

Pickering said he has no idea what kind of snake it was, but whatever species it was, it didn't reach his skin, because he'd worn heavy protective boots.

"When I'm in an area where snakes are likely to be, I wear heavy boots, especially during warm times of the year like during turkey season," Pickering said. "I try to use paths where I can see where I'm going. I have some well-worn paths to my deer stands. You just always have to be on the lookout for them."

Indeed, always watching where you're going and being aware of what's around you can be the most effective deterrent to being attacked by a snake.

"The main thing to do to avoid a snake attack is to be aware of where you are at all times, whether you're swimming or hiking," Turnage said. "Watch where you step, watch where you put your hands."

Originally published Friday, June 1, 2007