[seeriously]

Awww cute!

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

A lady working at Lowes in Pensacola was bitten by a diamondback a few weeks ago while unloading pine straw bales from a trailer. She's okay but her hand swelled up huge.

As already said, the most common ones I see in the yard are the black ones, they're fast but they usually run away from you.

And the black racers are our friends and protected. You should never kill them. They keep the rat and mice problem down. . Every once in a blue moon you might see a yellow rat snake around.

Florida is one of the states that does have 6 poisonous snakes though. We have 3 kinds of rattle snakes(diamondback, caneback, and pygmy), the cottonmouth, the coral, and the copperhead. I have seen many diamondback(some as long as a surf board and as thick as my arm). Seems like they like to nest under mobile homes -especially their steps. We lived near the Indian River and across the street from a mobile home park for a while. We had coral snakes in the yard a couple times and one of the neighbor kids picked up a pygmy rattler once and got bit on the finger. caneback rattle snakes and copperheads are mostly found in the panhandle or Northern Florida, but the rest can be found anywhere in Florida.

[puttytat41]

Thanks everyone for the info on snakes. I will not be moving to Florida. lol I think maybe Pa let me check it out.

[tmozer]

I saw my first good size (maybe 3') snake swimming in the roadside drainage canal yesterday. From a distance I though it could be a cottonmouth. But blowing up the pictures I took of it I think it might have been a black racer. Do they take to the water much? I should know as I had several of them as pet as a kid. They were always hyper and nasty. The rats snakes I had were much better pets.

Anyway, I love snakes and get upset when anyone kills one (unless it is eating their pet or is a poisonous one in a people area). The other night on the local news (Naples area) a man found a 9' boa in the road. Captured it and cut it's head off. Why? A home could have been found for it!

[beachmouse]

Our problem with roaches is that after the bug guy sprays, they have a tendency to try to come into our house to die.

[Strel]

Originally Posted by puttytat41

Thanks everyone for the info on snakes. I will not be moving to Florida. lol I think maybe Pa let me check it out.

Please tell all your friends too. Florida is under attack by hordes of snakes. Beware.

[MovedfromFL]

Originally Posted by tmozer

I saw my first good size (maybe 3') snake swimming in the roadside drainage canal yesterday. From a distance I though it could be a cottonmouth. But blowing up the pictures I took of it I think it might have been a black racer. Do they take to the water much? I should know as I had several of them as pet as a kid. They were always hyper and nasty. The rats snakes I had were much better pets.

Anyway, I love snakes and get upset when anyone kills one (unless it is eating their pet or is a poisonous one in a people area). The other night on the local news (Naples area) a man found a 9' boa in the road. Captured it and cut it's head off. Why? A home could have been found for it!

A black racer is a very long, skinny snake. A cottonmouth is very thick, like your arm. Also look at the snake's head. The head shape is what tells you if the snake is venomous or not. Most venomous snakes will have a large, wide head. Harmless snakes have a sleek head that blends into their body. Of course the coral snake is the exception because it doesn't have the "pit viper" head. Just remember: red on yellow - kill a fellow. (the red and yellow bands of the coral snake touch, but on the harmless king snake, the red and yellow bands don't touch.)

Another black snake that can get pretty big is the indigo snake. Jet black, shiny, and long. Thicker than a black racer but not as think as the cottonmouth. The indigos live in underground borrows. They can get very long, like 5+ feet. The Indigo snake is actually immune to the rattlesnake's venom. In fact, Indigos sometimes eat rattlers! (another good reason to have them around)

I used see a lot of indigos around my parents' house as a child, but sadly, they have gone away. The indigo is a threatened species.

[MovedfromFL]

I would rather pick up a snake than see a roach in my house. Those cockroaches just give the the creeps, esp. since one flew at me in central GA back in my college dorm. They really love the areas with oak trees and lots of leaves on the ground.

[rogerbacon]

Not only do we have poisonous snakes but we also have poisonous spiders. My friend almost lost an arm to a brown recluse. Never stick your hand in a dark area without first looking and making sure its spider-free.
I've never seen a poisonous snake in Suth Florida (except in the old Serpentarium) but I've seen a lot in Central Florida.

[tmozer]

Indigo snakes were always a desirable snake to have as a pet. Never had one (or saw one live). The snake I saw in the drainage canal was too thin to be a cotton mouth.....

Funny, the best selection of wildlife I have seen so far (tons of tutles, birds, a snake and a small gator) have been in the dirty littered drainage canals along the highway........