Think of it as a trap for the ones already there. Or, that its a good idea to keep your property free of stuff like that. Food for thought either way.
BEWARE
That's why we burned all the brush piles a few weeks ago...before it got too warm to be the new hangout!
sheesh, Joh, just had to pick on you a little. Must be past my bedtime...
Don't worry TF...I'm LOL with ya!
Brush piles are good wildlife habitat, though. If my brush pile brings in a venomous snake it would only be fair to bring it to a nearby wildlife refuge.
DH destroyed my compost pile! Can you believe it??? He found mice running around it & said the snakes would soon follow. Criminy...now he has to buy compost for me!!!
Well, mice are snake food. Thats why snakes are the good guys!
I'd much rather have my two great mousers about. I'll put up with the King Snake though. :-)
Hate to hear they have released MORE snakes around here. They did that a few years ago in the National Forrest south of Shelbyville. Several 55 gal barrels! We did see more snakes that year. I don't go out of my way to kill them or hunt them down but if they get in my path....THEY'RE DEAD!!!
I do understand, Brenda, but don't close your mind to even more tolerance of these creatures as you learn, ok?
My Daisy,
Powell Park is named after my people; maiden name is Powell. We have breakfast at the Marina often. Lovely view.
I live near a large, uninhabited strip of timber.
I have a poloroid of a 7' timber rattler spotted in this area; close to our road.
Believe me, they are plentiful.
My hydrangea bushes are a cool, damp hideout for snakes, especially when our hot, dry July/August season arrives.
Yieeks
I'll not give up my lakeside, front-door-to-nature home any time soon. LOL Instead I'll build my courage & carry a big stick.
TO WHO IT MAY CONCERN;
we ran big snake back into woods, so don't come to arrest me, please.
LOL Sudie! The next time you're at the marina, tell Stan & Linda that Cyndye & Brad said hello. We only get down there now during deer season...yep, we still hunt there off 705. They've had my pictures on the wall of my harvested bucks from the last 3 years.
Glad to "meet" ya!
Mydaisy,
So nice to live in a small world!
I will mention you and Brad when Tom and I visit with Stan and Linda again.
Those berry vines are truly "a thorn in the flesh!" lol
Stay safe
All this snake talk has me a little uneasy.
A few years ago, I moved to the Dallas area from northern NJ. I spent a lot of time in the woods there, and encountered many snakes, but never ran into a venomous one. There are only two venomous snakes in NJ - Timber rattlers and northern copperheads. I never saw either in the wild. They really were not a factor in gardening at all. Of course if there was a lot of brush to clear, or if a woodpile had to be moved, you'd watch it, but generally, we coexisted with snakes with no fright and no problems.
Things are different in TX! Do you guys wear protective gear like boots when you go out to work in your gardens and fields? Or just keep an awareness and be careful? Do you generally not swim in ponds and creeks?
I often wear boots, but sometimes my open toed sandals (shame on me)
Saturday my kids were playing in a friends front yard while we loaded lumber, and he had a big hole, there was a dead baby snake. Didn't have my camera with me. Almost 12" long, gray, wiht dark grey pointed head, and an orange ring behind the head. Orange belly too. Anbody know, my kids wanted to know what kind it was???
edit'd fer spellin'
This message was edited May 2, 2005 3:28 PM
Maybe a Southern ringneck snake? There's a pic here:
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/fl-guide/Diadophisppunctatus.htm
Maybe, looked more like this, only a bright orange ring.
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/fl-guide/diadophispacricus.htm
The friend was cleaning up 7 years of debris. I will ask him to not kill those anymore...
I guess we have everything everyone is afraid of, so why are we still here? We had a large dog killed by a Cottonmouth, 10 large Muscovy ducks eaten in one night by a large gator, We have Brown Recluse spiders, which have bitten me as well as a Cottonmouth bite. We still are not afraid, but are cautious. When I mow in the summer I get The big Orb Spiders in my face repeatedly. We shoot Cottonmouths when they get on our porch or in one of our chairs. Also as the charge us as they do at times. We have had several in the Lily pond that were tame as could be until they reach about 2 feet long, then the aggression starts. DW has had to shoot a couple that tried to run her off her platform. I don't walk by the Bayou at night during warm weather because we see drag marks where tails drag, some very large, as well as footprints as large as dinner plates. I don't follow the large tracks because I might find what made them. I wish we had more Rat Snakes but the Cottonmouths have eaten almost all of them. There are no Saltwater Crocs in Texas, but lots of gators. We have several small Ribbon snakes that live under our porch. Snake repellant works for all snakes except Cottonmouths. The Cottonmouths have also eaten most if not all of our Kingsnakes. They are the only snakes that travel over land with their head held up high, and have excellent vision. The puffers you guys are referring too are spreading adders. The Hognosed snake will play dead, hiss, roar, charge, but not too close, then retreat. The big Bull snakes are the loudest hissers with the widest mouths, and scare the **** out of most people. I basically like snakes, just keep them in mind and where they belong.
Gosh, I'm long winded. Get over your fear of snakes. Respect them. They are very interesting and benificial creatures.
trois
DW says she is a delicate Northerner and will have none of that.
My DW is from California and is Okraphobic.
Not scared of snakes though.
So am I and hydrophobic. Mine is from Wisconsin and is snakephobic.
Trois,
All I can say is, yikes!
Just don't bite anyone, please.
Sudie Goodman
Zone 8b
Broaddus, southeast TX
Lake Sam Rayburn
For Trois: You have my deepest respect for your courageous spirit.
Do you have nightmares from time to time?
I dreamed of Transelors (sp) (that really big spider) crawling on my bedroom walls. I could never be comfortable and mentally stable with that many known enemies! LOL No way!!
You and your family are on my "prayer for protection" list!
However, I am most pleased that you shared such a good description of a variety of cirtters.
You bet! I will be watchful.
I've not see the orange-neck-ring snake, SO FAR.
Trois, have you ever seen a snake that has rings around its body that are yellow, light green, and a peachy color (I think those were all of the colors, may have had black as well)? It reminded me of fruity colored Life Savers, was slim bodied and about 1.5 feet long. It was the most beautiful snake I have ever seen. This one was in the flowerbed right up against the back of my house. It took of so fast I did not really have a good look at it. I have checked to see if it was a type of garden snake, but have not found one like it.
Hazel, I have not seen that one, but I am sure it is harmless. It sounds like one of the western Kingsnakes or Milksnakes. I would like to see one.
Sudie, I have no fear of snakes or spiders, even venomus ones. Growing up, I played with Trantulas, still do when I see one. They will crawl onto your hand and be nice. No problem at all. They never bite that I have heard of, but I sippose it is possible if you were hurting it.
No nightmares about anything that I remember, altho sometimes I seem to have someone else's dream as some of them are strange, but always interesting.
Enjoy being brave. It can open a new world for you.
trois
Oh, great! I had lots of very strange dreams last night (partly involving snakes), didn't sleep a lick. I even called in at work, I was so tired. Now I'm going to dream about spiders!
:-)
What kind of snakes? Spiders are your friends. They eat mosquitos. And roaches.
(Shudder) ROACHES!! Gee, thanks trois!! (running from the room screaming)
= o
Spiders and snakes are truly man's best friends, Maggie! They rid of us of some our worst enemies. Flies, rodents, the list goes on and on. Please do not fear them.
Lol, I'm really not a "girlie" girl, but I did have an awful night of very strange dreams, mixing part of a TV show I saw, part of this thread, part of my work stresses... you name it! But roaches I just will not abide!
Import snakes. Those cute little Anole lizards eat a lot of roaches also.
I agree with John and Trois. Snakes and spiders really are usually quite beneficial...just like lizards and ladybugs. But that doesn't mean I want venomous spiders or snakes in my garden where my kids play! Having said that, we DO have a rather poisonous spider in our garden, but s/he lives in a crack in the garden wall and doesn't come out....just waits for prey to come running into the web surrounding the crack in the wall. I do want my kids to be aware of the need to respect boundaries with wildlife, but I don't want them to inherit my very deep fear of spiders. So even if inside I'm shuddering and cringing, if I see a spider in the garden I actually call the kids over and say in a very cheerful voice "Wow! Look, isn't this a pretty/interesting/beautiful spider! Look it has big stripes down it's back and pretty fuzzy legs...." Same thing when I see pics of snakes here on DG or elsewhere on the internet. I really am terrified of spiders and I know it's really quite stupid....and I'd really hate for my kids to be afraid of them too just because I'm neurotic. LOL.
-Julie
Good. So few people are killed or injured by snakes or spiders it is amazing the fear persists. But then, maybe that's why so few are bitten.
Julie is brave. I remember a night in a Bakersfield motel on my way back to the university. The sound of very large cockroaches running accross cardboard boxes kept me awake all night. I did NOT enjoy the drive the next day.
"The sound of very large cockroaches running accross cardboard boxes kept me awake all night."
I've gotta stop reading this thread.
The biggest roaches I've ever seen were that night in Bakersfield, CA. That sound was unreal! But, when I think about it now its pretty funny don't cha agree?
The biggest roaches I have ever seen were in Florida, called Palmetto bugs. Bug last year I saw na science show for kids about roaches. Helpoed me realize that if they didn't exist, we would have crumbs and food trash everywhere! Everything creepy crawly thing has its purpose, and most of us just need to stay away from them on purpose...
Poor maggiemoo {{{{HUGS}}}}
Good for you Julie!
No snakes here today. I have a picture of a large huntsman spider, but I WILL NOT post it :-) WE have lots of those here, and I leave them alone.
Continue to be wary...
You spent a night in Bakersfield? Nothing to add to that, John. The biggest "Palmetto bugs", flying roaches I have seen were common in Bermuda. They imported Anoles to eat them. They didn't, they ate something desirable, and a few roaches. Then they imported Kisskadees to eat the Anoles that had spread beyonf their wildest dreams. The Kisskadees then ate the Eastern Bluebirds, not the Anoles. I don't know what lives there now. That was in the 60s when we lived there.
Shoot, even worked there one summer. Miserable place. I think Buck Owens is still there. Merle Haggard retired to Lake Shasta.