The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: True_Texan on August 19, 2009, 10:19:01 PM
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Today turned out to be a bit more interesting then normal. I had a service call scheduled for a guy saying his dryer won't start. He said he heard a THUNK and then the motor hummed.
I get out there, do my stuff and realize what the problem is. I have plenty of experience with this sorta thing happening so I just laughed to myself and asked the guy for a plastic trash bag.
See if you can spot the problem:
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/True-Texan/IMG_0290.jpg)
"Yup, that's what I thought" I told him, "you got a snake in the blower wheel and he jammed it up good."
Got the rest of the blower housing off to get him out of there:
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/True-Texan/IMG_0293.jpg)
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/True-Texan/IMG_0294.jpg)
After getting a good look at the things eyes, I determined it wasn't poisonous. Reached in there, grabbed him by the tail and yanked him out on to the floor.
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/True-Texan/IMG_0295.jpg)
Put the trash bag into a trashcan and using a shovel, scooped him up and dumped him in there. Tied the bag up and the homeowner took him outside and smashed the bag against the ground. He didn't seem to want me to shoot the thing. ???
Just another reason I carry a gun with me at work! ;D
Should mention it was still quite alive. When I had him on the floor, he was striking at me and anything near him. He was just a little slower then normal. The homeowner was rather excited by the whole deal as well.
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Sounds like fun. Thankfully our blower vent is ten or twelve feet of the ground. Should charge extra for the snake handling fee. ;D
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You damn sure he wasn't poisonous?
Looks like a wide triangle head to me!
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hurmm?
never seen that before :o
then again, i live in MT, not many snakes up here. did it just climb in through the water main?
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I'm pretty good at spotting rattlesnakes (our only poisonous snakes locally), but what do the eyes have to do with spotting them?
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hurmm?
never seen that before :o
then again, i live in MT, not many snakes up here. did it just climb in through the water main?
They come in through the exhaust vent. If you don't have a good vent cover on the outside of your house, the sneak in there looking for warmth, a place to sit around and/or food (i.e. Mice).
Most vent covers have a flapper door or louvers on them but after a build up of lint, the flapper won't fall closed again.
I'm pretty good at spotting rattlesnakes (our only poisonous snakes locally), but what do the eyes have to do with spotting them?
I've been told if you can get a look at the pupil of the eye it will generally tell you if they are poisonous or not. If they are round and like a humans eye, they are generally not poisonous. If they are shaped like a cat's eye they are most likely poisonous
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wow, i had a buddy that was camping in arizona that had some sort of spider crawl into his jacket pocket while he was asleep. he looked in his pockets in the morning for a knife and found a 4" spider. glad its too cold up here for critters, i hate them :(
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Tex
I have often disagreed with you and we have exchanged some hard words. Such is the the nature of these boards. However, you, like me understand the rules and have never crossed the line to the point we can't chalk it up to its all in good fun and exchange gun advice, or if we lived locally, shared a pitcher afterwards. Here however, I will cross that line, but only for your own good. YOU DUMB ASS THATS A FREAKING RATTLE SNAKE!!!!!!!! Note the the triangular head, the diamiond back markings and, oh yeah, the venemous fangs. Look it in the eye? That's like like W looking "Puty Pute" in the eye and seeing his "soul". Maybe its a GOP thing. ??? Point is hoss, that thing could have killed you and you ain't being payed enough for that. Rule number one, if it has a triangular head, it it is a viper, hence poisonous. If you read this before you go to sleep, give your wife some lovin' and tuck you kids in to bed. Then, light up a cigar and have a drink cause you got lucky.
FQ13
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LMFAO FQ. I guess that picture is a little misleading. I have seen and killed more then my fair share of rattle snakes and that thing, as sure as the day is long, ain't one. That is at best a young bull snake but more than likely a rat snake.
For one, it was well over 2.5 ft long and it didn't have a single rattle on him. Two, no fangs... he was striking away at me and my shovel. His head wasn't much bigger then my thumb. Third, a lot of snakes imitate the markings of other more dangerous snakes for protection purposes.
Also I might add, I ABSOLUTELY detest snakes. I kept my distance from the thing, poison or not, but at the same time did what was required to get stuff done. Might have channeled Steve Erwin a little there. HAHAHAHA!
I'll leave the impersonation to Phil. I'm sure he's a ton better at it.
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I don't know about RATTLESNAKE, tail doesn't look right in the last picture. But other wise FQ is dead right, FLAT, (OK that part might be from the dryer motor slamming to a stop on his gourd ) TRIANGULAR head.
You are lucky to not be in the Hospital at best.
You posted while I was typing. I'm glad you knew what type you were dealing with, but I still would not put any faith in judging by the eyes, even if it IS an accurate way to tell you need to be WAY to close to find out. the shape of the head works from a greater DISTANCE. flat triangular head BAD, more oval shaped head still a snake but not poisonous so LESS BAD. also remember, snakes don't brush after meals (why don't they get cavities ?) so even non poisonous snake bites can easily cause dangerous infections.
As for non poisonous one imitating the markings of deadly ones, the Puff Adder and Coral snakes are the classic example, Both have Red, Yellow, and Black bands. There are only 2 differences, the order of the bands and the Puff Adder doesn't have a neuro toxin that kills in minutes or less.
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LMFAO FQ. I guess that picture is a little misleading. I have seen and killed more then my fair share of rattle snakes and that thing, as sure as the day is long, ain't one. That is at best a young bull snake but more than likely a rat snake.
For one, it was well over 2.5 ft long and it didn't have a single rattle on him. Two, no fangs... he was striking away at me and my shovel. His head wasn't much bigger then my thumb. Third, a lot of snakes imitate the markings of other more dangerous snakes for protection purposes.
Also I might add, I ABSOLUTELY detest snakes. I kept my distance from the thing, poison or not, but at the same time did what was required to get stuff done. Might have channeled Steve Erwin a little there. HAHAHAHA!
I'll leave the impersonation to Phil. I'm sure he's a ton better at it.
True Tex, that is why I asked what I did above. I also noticed 'no rattles' but I am FAR from a snake expert and wanted more info.
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That is a rat snake. Looks a lot like the Great Planes Rat Snake.
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LMFAO FQ. I guess that picture is a little misleading. I have seen and killed more then my fair share of rattle snakes and that thing, as sure as the day is long, ain't one. That is at best a young bull snake but more than likely a rat snake.
For one, it was well over 2.5 ft long and it didn't have a single rattle on him. Two, no fangs... he was striking away at me and my shovel. His head wasn't much bigger then my thumb. Third, a lot of snakes imitate the markings of other more dangerous snakes for protection purposes.
Also I might add, I ABSOLUTELY detest snakes. I kept my distance from the thing, poison or not, but at the same time did what was required to get stuff done. Might have channeled Steve Erwin a little there. HAHAHAHA!
I'll leave the impersonation to Phil. I'm sure he's a ton better at it.
Good to know there's hope for you, cause that picture on the floor looked like rattler. A bull snake is still an aggresive sob and like you, I don't much care for snakes. I apologise for any slight. I was just thinking "Crikey that's a big one" when I saw the photo on the floor. ;D
FQ13 who still stands by his earlier advice, just for different reasons
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True Tex, that is why I asked what I did above. I also noticed 'no rattles' but I am FAR from a snake expert and wanted more info.
I missed the post for whatever reason Haz.... OOPS!
His head wasn't broad like a viper. It was very narrow. Like I said, about the size of my thumb. That picture of him in the blower was taken pretty close up and throws off the perspective. If you just lay your thumb on the table and press down, that is what his head looked like.
This is a rat snake picture I found online. The Texas Rat Snake:
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/True-Texan/tx-rat-index.jpg)
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He didn't seem to want me to shoot the thing.
Well. of course NOT!
Dryers are expensive!
;D
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I missed the post for whatever reason Haz.... OOPS!
His head wasn't broad like a viper. It was very narrow. Like I said, about the size of my thumb. That picture of him in the blower was taken pretty close up and throws off the perspective. If you just lay your thumb on the table and press down, that is what his head looked like.
This is a rat snake picture I found online. The Texas Rat Snake:
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/True-Texan/tx-rat-index.jpg)
COOL! It re-enforces what I thought I knew. If the head is the same as the body width then NOT poisonous BUT if the head is triangle and wide then....
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Good to know there's hope for you, cause that picture on the floor looked like rattler. A bull snake is still an aggresive sob and like you, I don't much care for snakes. I apologise for any slight. I was just thinking "Crikey that's a big one" when I saw the photo on the floor. ;D
FQ13 who still stands by his earlier advice, just for different reasons
No worries FQ. I looked back at the picture and can see how someone might think that.
Wish I had gotten pictures of the 52" snake I yanked out of a dryer a year or so back. He was still alive too and jumped back when I tried to grab him with a very long set of pliers.
I told the man that why don't I just shoot the thing while it is in there and we can replace whatever has a hole in it later. ;D
He didn't go for that either and I guess it is the reason Haz raised.
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Just another picture to show that I am not COMPLETELY nuts...
Got this off the website: http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/Snakes/SnakeInfo.htm
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/True-Texan/Snakeyes.gif)
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Just another picture to show that I am not COMPLETELY nuts...
Got this off the website: http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/Snakes/SnakeInfo.htm
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/True-Texan/Snakeyes.gif)
Glad you added the qualifier....other wise you wouldn't belong here! ;D
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.....but I still would not put any faith in judging by the eyes, even if it IS an accurate way to tell you need to be WAY to close to find out. the shape of the head works from a greater DISTANCE. flat triangular head BAD, more oval shaped head still a snake but not poisonous so LESS BAD. also remember, snakes don't brush after meals (why don't they get cavities ?) so even non poisonous snake bites can easily cause dangerous infections......
Absolutely right Tom. I just figured I would check him out a little before I did a damn thing. Plus I had a bit of a captive specimen there. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place or in the case a blower and a housing. ;D
Taking about infections, I went to a house that was something slightly less worse then a sewer pit. Another dryer not running. Tilted it forward to look at the vent and saw what I thought was a snake tail sticking out.
Grabbed my Leatherman and pulled on it hoping it would just come free and I wouldn't have to go in after it. After a bit of a tug, I pulled out what happened to be the tail of a VERY large rat.
Had to dismantle everything and found a rat the size of a chihuahua stuck in there. He had been gnawing on the plastic blower wheel and got caught when they turned it on. He was dead which made things easier.
When I returned with the new part, I was sure to wear some old mechanics gloves I had in the truck and those have since been retired. I keep a large bottle of hand sanitizer and wipes in my truck. I took a bath in the stuff and went to the nearest bathroom to scrub up to my elbows.
Sad thing was, as I was leaving the second time, another VERY large rat ran past me and jumped through a hole that had been gnawed in the hinge side of a wooden door between the lower and middle hinge. The hole was about 3 inches in diameter if that gives you any idea of how big that bastard was.
Their account is now flagged for refusal of service.
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Jeezus.
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Absolutely right Tom. I just figured I would check him out a little before I did a damn thing. Plus I had a bit of a captive specimen there. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place or in the case a blower and a housing. ;D
Taking about infections, I went to a house that was something slightly less worse then a sewer pit. Another dryer not running. Tilted it forward to look at the vent and saw what I thought was a snake tail sticking out.
Grabbed my Leatherman and pulled on it hoping it would just come free and I wouldn't have to go in after it. After a bit of a tug, I pulled out what happened to be the tail of a VERY large rat.
Had to dismantle everything and found a rat the size of a chihuahua stuck in there. He had been gnawing on the plastic blower wheel and got caught when they turned it on. He was dead which made things easier.
When I returned with the new part, I was sure to wear some old mechanics gloves I had in the truck and those have since been retired. I keep a large bottle of hand sanitizer and wipes in my truck. I took a bath in the stuff and went to the nearest bathroom to scrub up to my elbows.
Sad thing was, as I was leaving the second time, another VERY large rat ran past me and jumped through a hole that had been gnawed in the hinge side of a wooden door between the lower and middle hinge. The hole was about 3 inches in diameter if that gives you any idea of how big that bastard was.
Their account is now flagged for refusal of service.
Ya got ta wonder about people like that! Simple cleanliness will solve a lot of 'infestations'. That along with a little bit of upkeep and you should be able to live like civilized humans!
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It ain't necessarily their fault. My senior year in college I got a sweet hookup on a rental house (high six figures minimum) through an old high school acquaintence because the owner was an FSO on a 2 year deployment. This thing was three stories, four bed rooms, 5 baths and a finished basement in walking distance of school. Problem was, DC was building a new metroline. The explosions from the drilling made the rats leave the sewers. I kiiled one with a nine iron in my dining room. My room mate reached into one of those 2 cmpartment SAMS club size boxes of Hefty bags and had one run right up his arm, no BS. We took it as goood sport and had our folks send us or buy us pellet guns.We had a blast baiting them with peanut butter (and yes Timothy, in this case pellet guns and alchohol DID mix and I was very, very wrong ;)). However the tipping point came when a great big rat in the basement avoided fire and dived, in true James Bond fashion,into a toilet to make his escape. At this point our girlfriends, who to this point had been good sports, put their foot down, figuing that what goes down could come up. We called an exterminator the next day. No rats, but it ruined our fun. ;D
FQ13
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FQ,
I like you, live in FL the roach capital of the world. Every month I spray around the base of the house and around all windows and doors. I don't have a bug problem.
I use stuff from Lowes that ya mix 1oz to a gallon and use a pump sprayer. No great cost.
When I was in AL I lived in a duplex. The landlord (old lady) lived on the other side. Roaches galore when I moved in. I sprayed my area and made sure to set a spray barrier between her wall and mine. No bugs.
It just takes the will.
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OK Haz the Exterminator, what do I do for black widows? I probably kill 20 a week right around the house.
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What are rattlers are they like a toy snake? :P
I cant see them on this list:
List of Deadliest Snakes in the world as per their ranking : -
1) Fierce Snake or Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus ), Australia. The most toxic venom of any snake. Maximum yield recorded (for one bite) is 110mg. That would porbably be enough to kill over 100 people or 250,000 mice. These rare snakes are vitually unknown in collections outside of Australia.
2) Australian Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis ), Australia. One 1/14,000 of an ounce of this vemon is enough to kill a person.
3) Malayan Krait (Bungarus candidus ), Southeast Asia and Indonesia. 50% of the bites from this snake are fatal even with the use of antivenin treatment.
4) Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus ), Australia. The venom delivered in a single Taipan bite is enough to kill up to 12,000 guinea pigs.
5) Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus ), Australia.
6) Beaked Sea Snake (Enhydrina schistosa ), South Asian waters Arabian Sea to Coral Sea..
7) Saw Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus ), Middle East Asia.
Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius ), North America.
9) Boomslang (Dispholidus typus ), Africa.
10) Death Adder (Acanthopis antarcticus ), Australia and New Guinea.
11) Black Mamba, both species of Green Mambas, and the Mojave Rattlesnake.
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OK Haz the Exterminator, what do I do for black widows? I probably kill 20 a week right around the house.
Move maybe? ;D
Joking of course. I have been using Ortho Home Defense for the last couple of years. It seems to work pretty darn well. You spray it around the base of the foundation and window frames and any other place little creepy things get in. It's supposed to keep them from crossing the line you spray and coming into your home, plus kill anything already there.
It's supposed to last for a year, but I never really timed it. Time doesn't seem to affect me anyway (that's why is is 3:20am and I am typing a response.) You can tell when the stuff wears off though. You'll start seeing the spiders, ants and water bugs/roaches showing up inside again.
Not endorsing it fully, but it works around here at least. There are other brands that make the same kind of thing. I just grabbed it the 1st time because it was on sale then.
http://www.orthohomedefense.com/smg/brand/homedefense/?campaign=rdhdmdotcom
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What are rattlers are they like a toy snake? :P
I cant see them on this list:
List of Deadliest Snakes in the world as per their ranking : -
1) Fierce Snake or Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus ), Australia. The most toxic venom of any snake. Maximum yield recorded (for one bite) is 110mg. That would porbably be enough to kill over 100 people or 250,000 mice. These rare snakes are vitually unknown in collections outside of Australia.
2) Australian Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis ), Australia. One 1/14,000 of an ounce of this vemon is enough to kill a person.
3) Malayan Krait (Bungarus candidus ), Southeast Asia and Indonesia. 50% of the bites from this snake are fatal even with the use of antivenin treatment.
4) Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus ), Australia. The venom delivered in a single Taipan bite is enough to kill up to 12,000 guinea pigs.
5) Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus ), Australia.
6) Beaked Sea Snake (Enhydrina schistosa ), South Asian waters Arabian Sea to Coral Sea..
7) Saw Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus ), Middle East Asia.
Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius ), North America.
9) Boomslang (Dispholidus typus ), Africa.
10) Death Adder (Acanthopis antarcticus ), Australia and New Guinea.
11) Black Mamba, both species of Green Mambas, and the Mojave Rattlesnake.
It almost takes a lot of trying to die from a rattlesnake bite. We average only 5.5 deaths by rattlesnake bite in the U.S. each year. Many rattlesnake bites involve alcohol. They do have a nasty bite and even during treatment, there can be a fair amount of suffering. In the US, if you get bit and seek help as fast as possible, you'll probably be fine.
I'd always read that the puff adder was the most dangerous snake in Africa and kills the most people. Not that it is the most venomous, just camo'd, fat and slow, so people stumble upon them.
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What are rattlers are they like a toy snake? :P
I cant see them on this list:
List of Deadliest Snakes in the world as per their ranking : -
1) Fierce Snake or Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus ), Australia. The most toxic venom of any snake. Maximum yield recorded (for one bite) is 110mg. That would porbably be enough to kill over 100 people or 250,000 mice. These rare snakes are vitually unknown in collections outside of Australia.
2) Australian Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis ), Australia. One 1/14,000 of an ounce of this vemon is enough to kill a person.
3) Malayan Krait (Bungarus candidus ), Southeast Asia and Indonesia. 50% of the bites from this snake are fatal even with the use of antivenin treatment.
4) Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus ), Australia. The venom delivered in a single Taipan bite is enough to kill up to 12,000 guinea pigs.
5) Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus ), Australia.
6) Beaked Sea Snake (Enhydrina schistosa ), South Asian waters Arabian Sea to Coral Sea..
7) Saw Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus ), Middle East Asia.
Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius ), North America.
9) Boomslang (Dispholidus typus ), Africa.
10) Death Adder (Acanthopis antarcticus ), Australia and New Guinea.
11) Black Mamba, both species of Green Mambas, and the Mojave Rattlers.
What do you mean? It says it right there. ;) :P
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What do you mean? It says it right there. ;) :P
Good spot!
I'm using the same pesticide.
I have a friend that is an exterminator and he says that Black Widows are one thing that they won't write a guarantee for, because they don't pick up enough poison. He says that you have to keep going out in the evening and spraying them individually. I sprayed one tonight that was in a web where i killed one last week.
The Ortho works pretty well on our ants though.
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What do you mean? It says it right there. ;) :P
I am glad some one was looking hehe
Truth is even though we have a majority of the top ten here, hardly any one dies from being bitten by a snake. More chance being impaled through the heart by a stingray, Oh wait.........
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Crikey means gee whiz, wow! you earn't your hard earned today then....
I am glad some one was looking hehe
Truth is even though we have a majority of the top ten here, hardly any one dies from being bitten by a snake. More chance being impaled through the heart by a stingray, Oh wait.........
well I must be luck with that Brown Snake getting me a couple of years ago.... so now I can go for a swim up north with the Box Jelly Fish and the Sting Rays ;D
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It almost takes a lot of trying to die from a rattlesnake bite. We average only 5.5 deaths by rattlesnake bite in the U.S. each year. Many rattlesnake bites involve alcohol. They do have a nasty bite and even during treatment, there can be a fair amount of suffering. In the US, if you get bit and seek help as fast as possible, you'll probably be fine.
I'd always read that the puff adder was the most dangerous snake in Africa and kills the most people. Not that it is the most venomous, just camo'd, fat and slow, so people stumble upon them.
Puff adders are harmless, but they LOOK JUST LIKE A CORAL snake, # 8 on Sledges list. There are 2 ways to tell the difference ;
1) the order of the Red yellow and Black bands
2) Aggression, If it jumps up, Hissing and Growling (No shit, I never even HEARD of that one, but I've SEEN it ) it's a Puff Adder, if it just kills you it's a Coral Snake.
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Puff adders are harmless, but they LOOK JUST LIKE A CORAL snake, # 8 on Sledges list. There are 2 ways to tell the difference ;
1) the order of the Red yellow and Black bands
2) Aggression, If it jumps up, Hissing and Growling (No shit, I never even HEARD of that one, but I've SEEN it ) it's a Puff Adder, if it just kills you it's a Coral Snake.
Tom
I think you're getting confused with the King Snake which looks similar to Coral Snake and lives in the US. The Coral Snake is native to Fl., which at least for now is in the US (or maybe Northern Cuba, I'm not sure). :-\ The difference is band color. The king has red touching black, the coral red touching yellowand black. When in doubt (and in my mind in generl) stay from the damn things in first place.Anyhow the puff adder is poisonious an African.
FQ13
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"Red on yellow, dangerous fellow"
"Red on black, friend to Jack"
or
"Red on yellow, kill a fellow"
"Red on black, venom lack"
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I don't care...if someone finds ANY SNAKE in my dryer...I'm gonna be ALARMED..
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Tom
I think you're getting confused with the King Snake which looks similar to Coral Snake and lives in the US. The Coral Snake is native to Fl., which at least for now is in the US (or maybe Northern Cuba, I'm not sure). :-\ The difference is band color. The king has red touching black, the coral red touching yellowand black. When in doubt (and in my mind in generl) stay from the damn things in first place.Anyhow the puff adder is poisonious an African.
FQ13
The guy that was with me at the time told me it was a "Puff Adder" I basically know squat about different types of snakes, it isn't a major subject up here. So I will bow to your, of necessity,greater knowledge. ;D
"Red on yellow, dangerous fellow"
"Red on black, friend to Jack"
or
"Red on yellow, kill a fellow"
"Red on black, venom lack"
Thanks for posting that Haz, I've heard both of those before (at the time of my little adventure) but could not remember them after this long.
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Some people call these hog-nosed snakes puff adders. It gets confusing because it has too many names. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodon That's the only snake I've seen in several years except for a couple garter snakes.
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Some people call these hog-nosed snakes puff adders. It gets confusing because it has too many names. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodon That's the only snake I've seen in several years except for a couple garter snakes.
Interesting behavior ;D
FTA ; When threatened, the hognose snake will flatten its neck and raise its head off the ground, similar to a cobra, and hiss. It may sometimes feign strikes, but is extremely reticent to bite. This behavior has earned the hognose several nicknames, such as "blowing adder," "flathead," "spreading adder," or "hissing adder." If this threat display does not work to deter a would-be predator, the hognose snake will often roll onto its back and play dead with its mouth open and tongue lolling, going as far as to emit a foul musk from the cloaca. Emission of cloacal musk is considerably less likely than in many other species. If the snake is rolled upright while in this state, it will often roll over again as if to insist that it is really dead.
OH MY GOD !! Snake farts !! ;D
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I bet it's not just the snake that emits a foul musk. I came across one of those hog-nose snakes and didn't know what it was. I knew it wasn't poisonous so I picked it up and played with it. It's neck was spread out flat like a cobra. It was very interesting. I tossed it off the road so it didn't get run over. They say it will shake it's tail in dry leaves so it sounds like a rattlesnake.
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Living in a dryer because. "Its just not warm enough in Texas"? :-\
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This is the african Puff Adder. Bear Grylls showed a nasty one on Discovery's Man vs. Wild.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitis_arietans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitis_arietans)
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The puff adder is a very poisionous snake in Africa.
The coral snake is often confused with the scarlett king snake and sometimes the milk snake both of which may have similar markings to the coral snake.
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The thing about a coral snake is, it isn't part of the viper family. It really doesn't have 'fangs' to speak of and it's jaw doesn't open wide enough to really bite anything. If you are barefoot or in sandals, it may be able to get your little toe. That's why I worry about my daughter playing out in the yard.
And they don't just strike and pull back. They latch on and gnaw on you.
Keep them feet covered Haz! ;D
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The thing about a coral snake is, it isn't part of the viper family. It really doesn't have 'fangs' to speak of and it's jaw doesn't open wide enough to really bite anything. If you are barefoot or in sandals, it may be able to get your little toe. That's why I worry about my daughter playing out in the yard.
And they don't just strike and pull back. They latch on and gnaw on you.
Keep them feet covered Haz! ;D
Good post Tex.
The fact is that most folks get into trouble coral snakes two ways.
1. They like to burrow under leaf piles, wood piles, fallen logs etc. and bite when startled.
2. They are a very docile snake and will actually let you pick them up in the wild (if you are that deeply weird) until they feel threatened. Because they are small, usually under 2 feet, and pretty, a certain amount of idiots do this.
Unlike rattlers or particularly moccasins, they are a very mellow snake. They also have short fangs, asTex mentioned, they actually have to gnaw to get the venom in. Jeans and boots will ward them off. Down side is that they, unlike any other North American snake secrete a neurotoxin. Once you're bitten you've got on average 90 minutes or its game over. Fish and Game says they are threatened and should be left alone. Generally I agree with that philosophy and I follow it in the woods. If they are in my yard, they are extinct.
FQ13 who is a bit non PC when it comes to snakes
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Good post Tex.
The fact is that most folks get into trouble coral snakes two ways.
1. They like to burrow under leaf piles, wood piles, fallen logs etc. and bite when startled.
2. They are a very docile snake and will actually let you pick them up in the wild (if you are that deeply weird) until they feel threatened. Because they are small, usually under 2 feet, and pretty, a certain amount of idiots do this.
Unlike rattlers or particularly moccasins, they are a very mellow snake. They also have short fangs, asTex mentioned, they actually have to gnaw to get the venom in. Jeans and boots will ward them off. Down side is that they, unlike any other North American snake secrete a neurotoxin. Once you're bitten you've got on average 90 minutes or its game over. Fish and Game says they are threatened and should be left alone. Generally I agree with that philosophy and I follow it in the woods. If they are in my yard, they are extinct.
FQ13 who is a bit non PC when it comes to snakes
It is more likely that rather than "Mellow" or "docile", they are just totally and completely stunned, (as I often am ) by human stupidity.
Although, CCW people tend to have a higher threshold for taking crap than non CCW's so maybe it's got something to do with knowing that they have a fair chance against anything that might mess with them.
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It is more likely that rather than "Mellow" or "docile", they are just totally and completely stunned, (as I often am ) by human stupidity.
Although, CCW people tend to have a higher threshold for taking crap than non CCW's so maybe it's got something to do with knowing that they have a fair chance against anything that might mess with them.
Actually, I was going to add that very point to my post. They are a lot like us. Harmless unless provoked, deadly if you do. Other than the fact that they don't rattle, they should be the poster snake for the Gadsen Flag, which we all like for a reason. Leave them alone and you're fine. Mess with them at you peril. Maybe I should get a red and yellow jacket to wear in dark alleys. ;D
FQ13
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Actually, I was going to add that very point to my post. They are a lot like us. Harmless unless provoked, deadly if you do. Other than the fact that they don't rattle, they should be the poster snake for the Gadsen Flag, which we all like for a reason. Leave them alone and you're fine. Mess with them at you peril. Maybe I should get a red and yellow jacket to wear in dark alleys. ;D
FQ13
Problems with that are if any of the local thugs in your area were smart enough to figure out the significance they would being doing some more profitable than muggings, or they come from some place where this would be the "What's for Dinner" thread.