Copper-headed Rattle Moccassins

When I was little we lived out in an addition with a pond and some very wooded areas. We had snakes, a lot. There were the big, black and oh so stinky water moccassins (Agkistrodon piscivorus) around the water with a large variety of water snakes. There were the non-poisonous king snakes, rat snakes, and garden snakes that graced our presence consistently up by the house. And then there were the copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix) and later in my childhood the on-set of the pygmy rattlesnakes (Western massasagua). We had a swallows nest high above the front door in the eaves of the porch and we would find huge black snakes crawling up the front door at night to feast on the swallow eggs. My brother had a copperhead jump out of the seat holes on our "Hot Wheels" that had been put away in the shed. I was playing on the rocks of the spillway in flip-flops (yes, I know...fantastic idea) and had one slither over my foot sending me into a dance of crazy antics throwing my hands in the air, screaming and jumping erratically playing invisible hopscotch on the rocks and trying to propel myself to solid ground so I could freak out appropriately. What I'm trying to say is that I've grown up with snakes. My dad used to tease my brother and I whenever we saw one and call it a "copper-headed rattle moccassin." He mostly said this when he was trying to scare us because he thought it was funny. When I got into vet school I actually started doing research on snake venom. This prompted me to delve into a snake's anatomy, read up on species, and learn more about rattlesnakes, geographical locations, venom components, and antivenom.

Fast-forward to present day. Since I have some experience with snakebites in animals my colleagues often hand over all these cases to me. I had a phone call from a client whose horse had gotten bitten by a snake. In this area we have rattlesnakes but a very high percentage of the snakebites seen in animals are from the abundance of copperheads. Anyway, I was speaking to the client on the phone and had a momentary lapse of sanity. My mind propelled back to my childhood and I heard my dad using his famous funny snake phrase. I actually said, "rattle moccassin" on the phone. Thank heavens I didn't say copper-headed as a prefix or I might have died of embarassment. But I did say, "rattle moccassin." Besides there being no such thing -- I realized what I had said and sent myself into a full-out giggling session. I had to put the client on hold. One of the other doctors eyed me curiously and laughed at the scene I was causing. After a bent-over, knee-slapping, crying out loud laughing session I resumed the phone call, apologized for what I called a "tongue-tying" incident and went on with my career.

Thanks dad, for teaching me all the strange things I say.