re: Snake bite through boots?

2-3 million people hike some part of the Appalachian trail every year, a lot of the trail goes through areas heavily populated by rattlesnakes, and copperheads, there have been 5 snake bites over the last 20 years mostly from reaching under logs, and leaves.

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One day we were traversing through a swamp of the wolf river around Memphis and had a close call with an average sized cottonmouth. I asked the surveyor/engineer who I was training under, and who had 35 year's worth of experience, of how many surveyors he ever knew that had been bitten.

He said one. And that's because he was messing with it. One. Coming from a guy who literally worked in the southern jungles everyday for nearly 4 decades and who knew many accomplices who did the same, that statement was striking to me.

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Yep. Snakebites are rare in the US. Truly accidental snakebites are even more rare. Most of the bites happen because somebody is being a dumbass. Accidents do happen though. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine reached to get something out of a shed and a copperhead bit him on the thumb. Those things happen, but it's usually some drunk idiot intentionally messing with a venomous snake.

As far as the OP's question - I've wondered myself. I think most snakebites probably wouldn't go through a tough boot. But, it would depend on where on the boot the snake bit, how large it was, and how serious it was about biting you. I've seen photos of snake fangs and hypodermic needles side by side under an electron microscope, and the fangs were cleaner and sharper. If you think about it, it wouldn't be all that difficult to push a hypodermic needle through most boots.

That said, when I go out looking for rattlesnakes to photograph I'm usually wearing low hiking shoes and shorts.