Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by fordgoose15 on Apr 3, 2007 13:33:59 GMT -5
the water you can see near the corner of this picture is close to where Shakedown meets Bushy Branch. But I have absolutely zero desire to swim in it. Small ponds like that are a collection point for everything in the area.
I lived in the south for a good 10 years and was an avid mountain biker so i've seen my fair share of snakes. I've actually never seen a Timber Rattler in Tennessee, although I have in other states, I've seen more copperheads than imaginable (I think there the most likely to be seen in Tennessee but also the most skiddish of them all), and I've seen a few cottonmouths as well but they're USUALLY not very well discovered. That bieng said, in 2005 we did see a REALLY BIG cottonmouth in the campgrounds at bonnaroo. It really caught us off gaurd because they usually stay clear of people. I had a friend tell me that cottonmouths don't like to relocate and it makes more sense that it wasw a big one because it probably wasn't as scared. I saw it in the woods though, it was slithering underneath the bridge. Some other people saw it too, only a few people thought it was threatening though, which was kind of funny because I think I said it once before somewhere else on this thread but there were a group of really messed up kids who just stood next to it pointing and laughing like it was a hallucination. Anyways, I wouldn't be too concerned about snakes in Bonnaroo, especially if you not near the woods. But just in case always take the proper precautions!!!
"Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made." Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Soul of Man Under Socialism
"You're either on the bus or off the bus." Ken Kesey
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Hunter S. Thompson
Just a quick update for those interested in visiting Rutledge Falls... I added a link below with a map and turn by turn directions. Though it doesn't show the route I initially spoke of, it should be just as good.
Post by roolacksreality on Apr 5, 2007 23:51:34 GMT -5
Since my thread has somewhat shifted to a reptile experience topic, I'll tell my encounter with venomous snakes.
We were tubing down the Mississippi River in Helen, GA. When we were getting close to the drop-off point, my friend and his dad stopped at a river bank. We all had our feet in the water and at some point my buddy's dad screamed. He got bit by something on his leg that left a mark. He said it stung for a while, but he kept avoiding it. A couple weeks later, the wound on his leg was huge, and extremely painful, so he went to the hospital. The doctor told him while his feet were near the water and by the brush, he was bit by a water moccasin. He then said if he waited a day or two longer to report his injury, his leg might have had to be amputated.
Oh, and thanks to everyone who posted some information about the ponds!
^^^^^ I'm sorry, I appoligize. I totally turned your thread into a tennessee reptile thread. I appoligize. I was trying to be humorous and then the converstaion turned into a serious one. I guess my only excuse is that I'm kind of a nature freak. Smite me if you want, but I mean no harm. And also dude, those water moccasin bites HURT!!!!! I bet your friend was in some intense pain. Plus, he's lucky because if that infections spreads to your blood stream you can die!
"Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made." Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Soul of Man Under Socialism
"You're either on the bus or off the bus." Ken Kesey
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Hunter S. Thompson
Post by roolacksreality on Apr 6, 2007 10:48:12 GMT -5
No big deal, I love to tell that story! Those little bastards can get ya anywhere, he is a very fortunate guy. His leg looked like there was another limb forcing itself outward. Crazy stuff.
i used to go to the river here as a kid and catch cottenmouths and see how far we could throw them into the river..about 12 years old when my friends and i did that crapp...boy were we stuuuuuuuuuupid.but no worries about snakes here just move out of the way,
Post by spookymonster on Apr 7, 2007 21:09:30 GMT -5
Cool... so if I come haulin' ass pass your tent, screamin' like a little girl, you'll know what needs to be done... Grab your cudgel and head out to the wetlands, St. Pat!
Post by spookymonster on Apr 7, 2007 21:25:26 GMT -5
OK... but tell him he doesn't have to put his thumb up any snake bums... not for me at least... what he and a consenting adult snake choose to do in the privacy of a stagnant pool is his own business... and the snakes...
Post by Bob Noxious on Apr 25, 2007 15:35:27 GMT -5
Don't go near the ponds. They are private and fenced off. As someone who lives here and loves Bonnaroo, please don't give any of the festival neighbors reason to complain and make issues. You would be swimming in cow turds and e coli anyway.
Post by Bob Noxious on Apr 25, 2007 15:40:44 GMT -5
There are few if any Cottonmouths in this part of Tennessee. Plenty in West TN. We have lots of copperheads but mostly in dry rocky areas. Not in hayfields. Plenty of Rattlesnakes but not in hayfields. Contrary to popular belief, it is illegal to randomly kill snakes (venemous or not) in Tennessee. Be sweet to our rat eating friends.
Post by Sköldpadda on Apr 25, 2007 16:03:13 GMT -5
Yeah, the gators and most of the mocassins are out in West Tennessee, where the Mississippi runs. Snakes really aren't much of a threat...rattlesnakes let you know when you're getting close. If you hear a rattle, just walk backward the exact way you came. It's best to look around and see if you can spot the rattler, and if not just walk backward. Copperheads aren't much of a problem (I heard they're skittish...I've lived in North Florida/South Georgia and East Tennessee my whole life and I've never even seen one in the wild, although some of my friends have).
Cottonmouths (moccasins) are dangerous, but they're easy to pick out. Normal black snakes are just your average snake, but cottonmouths are short and fat. Every one I've seen has been disproportionately thick for its length, and they're really a dark brown color. They also look hateful. Seriously, it's probably the meanest-looking animal I've ever seen (I only got up close and personal at the zoo). Mocassins also hold the distinction of being the only snake I've ever seen my relatives or elders shoot on sight, regardless of what it was doing or where it was.
They don't all look the same, but I'm pretty sure the species most common around here is the dark brown variety. Wikipedia's got a fairly informative page on them: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agkistrodon_piscivorus
When you think about it, most of the snakes on the site live in the grass most of the year, as well as the woods. When all the people arrive for that one week, the snakes all get displaced, mainly into the woods. If you think about the snake population of most of a 550 acre piece of land getting condensed into that small an area, you're bound to see some near the woods. They pretty much just want to be left alone.
Post by macaroniandtuna on Apr 28, 2007 1:13:26 GMT -5
I wouldn't worry about snakes too much. They're deaf, so they can't hear the music or anything, but they're sensitive to rumbles in the ground (ie, those created by thousands of cars and people moving into the site, and especially the thumps created by the massive sound systems the stages have), and I'm willing to bet they move away pretty quickly. That and the fact that snakes tend to avoid people anyway if they can, and of course there are a bunch of people at the site setting up before most of us even get there.
"Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made." Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Soul of Man Under Socialism
"You're either on the bus or off the bus." Ken Kesey
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Hunter S. Thompson
Yes, thanks for the water moccasin reference, when I saw the picture of the one swimming in the water it reminded me of learning to swim in a black water creek in SC. The teacher, Miss Illy McFall, pointed one out to us so we could avoid them and "dont touch the snakes". I was 6 years old. I still can't believe that's where I learned to swim and continued to swim in Black Creek through my high school years 'cause there was a really cool rope swing off the high bank side.
Ah, the joys of growing up in a small town in SC in the 50's. There were no swimming pools yet, we were at the country club's swimmin' spot on the creek. Complete with bath houses for dressing and showering after swimmin'. There was a safety feature there which was why this spot was chosen for swimming lessons for the young Darlingtonians. It was a raft type 'bridge' that went across the creek about 80 feet downstream from the sandy beach area where everyone swam. The water was pretty swift, so that was extra assurence for young swimmers and parents alike that no one would get washed downstream and never seen again.
So, back to snakes, I probably didn't swim in a pool until I was 12 years old. Lakes and creeks were my only swimming opportunities and since the water was always very dark, the only way you could see them was the ripple in the water in an S shape as the snakes were swimming through. While I didn't see them every time I went swimming, I saw them enough to give them a very wide berth and plenty 'o room. I was never bitten, nor was anyone else I knew.