Do Snakes Really Chase People?

Do Snakes Chase People?
Some Say that Water Moccasins and Blue Racers will, but it's a Myserery
By Wes Goff

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There’s a lake in Wyoming that is often used for recreational activities. But one summer people were being scared off by snakes that had suddenly began swimming around; snakes that were never noticed in previous years. The snakes would even swim toward people, as if they were going after them. It was a scene that the northerners had never seen before so they couldn’t understand what was happening. But if those people had asked someone from Missouri or another southern state, they would have been told that the snakes were probably water moccasins. As the story turns out, the snakes were indeed water moccasins. The snakes had been hibernating in some pipes that were shipped up from a southern state. The pipes were delivered to be used in a new dam that was being built nearby.

The aggressiveness of water moccasins (a.k.a. cottonmouths) is a familiar topic among many people. It’s even said that a water moccasin will attack a boat that goes through their territory.

However, there is a theory that the bad reputation that water moccasins receive actually comes from events that involve ‘harmless’ water snakes that have been misidentified as cottonmouths. It’s been written that the northern water snake, among other water snakes, are actually the ones who are aggressive, territorial, and will vigorously defend its hunting area. But this is just one theory.

Not all stories about aggressive snakes take place in the water. There are plenty of such stories about snakes on the land as well. Some of these stories even claim that a snake will downright chase a person. Usually, this is attributed to a snake called a blue racer, a black racer, or just simply ‘racer.’ Racers got their name because of their speed. But they are only considered to be fast when compared to other snakes. They’re far from being fast enough to overtake a running person, as some old stories have it.

In fact, it’s also possible that stories about racers chasing people at all are just stories. This is also true about the stories about water Imoccasins. Indeed the story about the Wyoming lake is merely a story I’ve heard from people during conversations; and it smells just like an urban legend. So perhaps all these stories about

Cottonmouths and blue racers are merely snake myths –one of many such snake myths. Some old snake myths such as the stories about hoop snakes, whipsnakes, and milk snakes are old fashioned and are usually not believed anymore if they’re ever told at all. But the stories about cottonmouths and racers have survived in modern times.

Many herpetologists and naturalists would agree that such stories are merely myth. And indeed I feel like I’ve even noticed a pattern in the way people talk about it. People have repeatedly said that water moccasins will “come after you” while blue racers will “chase you.” These are the words that are often chosen. Thus it seems like people say these things because this is what they’ve heard.

However, here comes the interesting part of it. I have also heard many people claim that they have witnessed this phenomenon themselves. It wasn’t just something they’ve heard about, it was something that they’ve seen. For instance, one night I was around some people and I asked the question, “Do snakes chase people?” A woman answered me quite loudly and without hesitation. “I know for a fact they will!” She was growing up in Illinois when “me and my brother were playing out in the yard and it just came after us and started chasing us . . . It stuck its head up and it looked like it was running on its tail . . . The people that owned the property that we rented from said that it was a blue racer. But I wasn’t sticking around to see what color it was.”

A Missouri herpetologist that I spoke to is skeptical of such stories though. He said that if it were so common for snakes to chase people, there would be more written on the subject. Indeed there isn’t a lot written about it. However, most literature on snakes were written by herpetologists; and, as he admitted with a smile, if racers did chase people, they wouldn’t have much of a chance to chase herpetologists –because the snakes would be too busy trying to get away from the herpetologists that are chasing them while out on their field research.

Thus the subject of ‘do snakes chase people’ is a mystery that has been overlooked for a while now. People claim that it’s happened yet mainstream science does not accept it. This places it in the same category as Bigfoot and ghosts. Indeed it could even be considered a bigger mystery than Bigfoot or UFO’s. I say this because, in my research on mysterious phenomena, I have ran across many more people who have claimed to have witnessed a snake chasing either themselves or another person than I have people who have claimed to have spotted Bigfoot and UFO’s combined.

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To read more about this subject and similar subjects, check out the THE BACKROAD LEGENDS OF CALLAWAY COUNTY. To order this book, e-mail Book Express directly at bookexpress@sbcglobal.net. Or search at Alibris at http://www.alibris.com