Is it safe to swim at Lake Heritage in Gettysburg?

Question

My friend Kim lives in Lake Heritage and I was at her house not too long ago. We swam in the lake, it was really fun! But when I got home my sister was like, "You could've got bitten by a snake or snapping turtle!" So I'm wondering if it's safe to swim there? I'm kind of concerned now because I know snapping turtles can take a toe or two off in one bite. Help?

Answer 1

I live in Florida and every body of water here is full of snakes turtles and gators and most natives will swim in all of them. We have a saying, about the gators at least, that is 'for every one you see, there are 10 more you haven't' that may sound scary or even irrelevant but the point I'm trying to make is that they will go out of their way to avoid you long before you ever know they are there. Turtles and snakes are the same.

With that being said,snapping turtles a do not move around much at all, they spend most of their lives sitting and waiting for food to come to them. They do not actively persue their pray so if you think one is going to swim up and bite your toes off I promise you that will not happen. They tend to stay out of the way in the shallower water near the bank and prefer to be in the weeds or under cover of brush. You're not going through the mucky swampy areas near the sides are you? Even if you were, the turtle doesn't see you or your toes as food, it sees you as a threat and would move out of your way.

As for the snakes... a snake bite is harmless unless the snake is venomous. All snakes are non confrontational, again they are almost always gone w/o you ever knowing they were there. In PA you have 3 types of venomous snakes the timber rattle snake, the northern copperhead, and the eastern massasauga rattlesnake all of which dont spend much time in the water. Bites usually occur while a person is trying to catch or carelessly handle one of these snakes. All of these species are usually non-aggressive and prefer to avoid confrontation. Thus, they often quietly move away from an approaching human or remain completely still and allow what they perceive as a threat to pass by. These snakes tend to be found near cover such as fallen logs, brush piles, rock walls, abandoned house foundations or rock ledges. They may be resting or lying in wait for prey.

Simply put... anything is POSSIBLE but seriously you have nothing to worry about. Swim and have fun. Enjoy nature while it's still there.

Answer 2

You are in much greater danger of drowning than you are from reptiles.

And common snappers cannot sever a human toe, except perhaps on a tiny child. That is an urban (rural?) legend.