water moccassin at my front door!

[Rita]

OMG!!! A flying squirrel??!!! How crazy is that? :shock:

.
When I was 8 or 9 my mom, with gloves on, rescued a couple flying squirrels from a tree that was cut down on the lot next to ours. We had them in a cage with a wheel for a while. I remember she got bitten and was bleeding but dad let us keep them - which we shouldn't have but....

This was in Illinois.

.

 

[CastlesOfSand]

.
When I was 8 or 9 my mom, with gloves on, rescued a couple flying squirrels from a tree that was cut down on the lot next to ours. We had them in a cage with a wheel for a while. I remember she got bitten and was bleeding but dad let us keep them - which we shouldn't have but....

This was in Illinois.

.

Hey Rita!! You had pet flying squirrels!!!??? That is really crazy!! I had a couple of rabbits.

 

[Rita]

Hey Rita!! You had pet flying squirrels!!!??? That is really crazy!! I had a couple of rabbits.

.
As I remember we didn't have them too long as one got caught under the wheel = one of those made for smaller rodents - not flying squirrels. And for whatever reasons, they didn't survive long. Like I said, we should not have tried to make pets of them but I suppose my parents didn't know any better or just didn't say "no" to us on that one.


.

 

[grace]

Two months ago I had a copperhead stretched out on a rug in my home.
I opened the doors to the house to let some fresh air thoughout and apparently the snake came in and decided he wanted to sun on the carpet in front of the door.
I freaked
A friend carefully wrapped the snake in the rug and shook him out the door. The snake didn't even flinch just took off quickly.

Honestly a week later I came home and the same copperhead was hanging around the driveway. He must like Shangri La (the name of my home). Haven't left the doors open since.

I've had encounters with different kinds of snakes rat/pygmy living close to the woods. But this was the first for a copperhead.
FREAKY...........

Surely you're not in SOWAL??

 

[Lynnie]

He won't come chase you or anything. Reason I ask is there are so many black snakes. Moccasins are fat and usually not very long. They have a very distinct triangular head - very broad. They usually don't come up to door steps - most likely you have a rat snake. But still, I know it is worrisome.

This is a moccasin

http://www.road-school.com/199x/gacottonmouth.jpg

This is a rat snake

http://freesnake.com/bla4.jpg

and this is just plain creepy!!

http://www.bluebirdnut.com/images/BlackSnake-Terry.jpg

Do you have any bird nests around?

Eeck!! Triangular head = poisonous, poisonous, poisonous! :shock:

 

[joho]

Surely you're not in SOWAL??

yes.........I'm in Sowal

Several years ago (lived in a 2 story) we use to have a racoon that would come up our back stairs around dinner time. He'd pass our cat on the way up come right into the kitchen and wait for something to eat.

The kids got to where they would yell "Rockys Here."

no kidding...............one day Rocky didn't show up. We've always wondered what ever happened to him. He became another pet.
I know they can be dangerous but for some resaon this racoon was very gentle. Of course we never got up in his face.

Over the years we've encountered many wild animals and reptiles in Sowal!

 

[Geo]

I know it's off topic but I want to share a memory.

One time when I was a teenager I was repelling off a cliff in Southern Illinois. Just before I was about to get below the cliff wall and do a nice long "freefall" I stepped on a little ledge and in doing so accidentially stepped on a flying squirrel. He made an little noise, gave me a dirty look and then spread his "wings" and jumped. It was so cool hanging there about 80 feet up watching him peacefully glide down into the canyon.

 

[Geo]

There was a Scarlet Kingsnake on my street last night. We were freaked out because at first we thought it was a Coral Snake which is wickedly poisonous. He was in the grass right in front of the house where our kids play daily. But it was just the look alike Scarlet. Thx to my Iphone we were able to quickly ID him.

So I'll share a little fact and rhyme I learned.

"If red meets yellow he's a poisonous fellow."

The one we saw had stripes of red, black and yellow but all of the yellow was surrounded by black. That makes him the Scarlet Kingsnake. If he had the same colors but the pattern had the red and yellow stripes next to each other then YIKES- Coral Snake.

 

[Gidget]

There was a Scarlet Kingsnake on my street last night. We were freaked out because at first we thought it was a Coral Snake which is wickedly poisonous. He was in the grass right in front of the house where our kids play daily. But it was just the look alike Scarlet. Thx to my Iphone we were able to quickly ID him.

So I'll share a little fact and rhyme I learned.

"If red meets yellow he's a poisonous fellow."

The one we saw had stripes of red, black and yellow but all of the yellow was surrounded by black. That makes him the Scarlet Kingsnake. If he had the same colors but the pattern had the red and yellow stripes next to each other then YIKES- Coral Snake.

THANK YOU for not just freaking and killing the snake outright.

Coral snakes are pretty shy - but you never know. I too have used that little rhyme - mine goes "Red Black friendly Jack - red yellow, kill a fellow" lol

When we lived in LA we had a salt and pepper kingsnake that hung around all the time. My dh put it in the sales contract - do not kill the kingsnake. He showed the new owner pics etc.... and the owner agreed and was delighted actually to have been made aware.

I love reading all the stories here. Keep on sharing!

 

[kayakmatt]

Please only kill snakes as a last resort.

Water maccassin at my front door who do I call?

I know having a snake around the house can be frightening, especially if you have kids or pets. But before you get out the gun or shovel, try to make a positive identification of the snake. For one, coral snakes in this part of Florida are rare. And venomous snakes, such as copperhead and cottonmouth prefer areas near water. We do have two kinds of rattlesnakes here, the eastern diamondback and the pygmy rattler, both venomous.
That said, the non-venomous snakes in this area, greatly outnumber the venomous. Though sometimes they are hard to tell apart, most venomous snakes have a flat, diamond shaped head. Some snakes will coil and shake their tail like a rattlesnake even though they are harmless. In fact, most non-venomous snakes can be harmless and benefitial, by eating pests, rodents and even other venomous snakes around your home and garden.
Please, if you can, take a photo and look the snake up on the internet or ask a friend or neighbor to I.D. the snake before killing it. If you still have concerns about a snake being around the house, call Walton County Animal Control 850-892-8758. ;-)