Rattlesnakes and other venomous species (Phoenix, Kingman: houses, neighborhoods, to live)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by drwnorth

Your statement about "drunk young males is a total joke" - misleading a lot of people which want & need accurate knowledge & understanding of what to expect or anticipate when in rattler country.


Insofar as a "cop out"?


It's better to remain silent and thought the fool, than speak and remove all doubt.

Its not a joke, as links and others (who work with the police) have shown. 40% of bites occur to young, inebriated males between the ages of 21-40, as clearly shown. Thats almost half!

[esselcue]

I will never forget the 18-year-old kid who attempted to squish a rattler by sitting on it, just to prove to his pals that he was not afraid! (they were enjoying a case of Bud at the time). Needless to say, his butt suffered for his stupidity. Our deputies answered that call, which is the only way I know about it. As I mentioned, most rattler bites go unreported to the general public.

[squeakems91]

Rattlesnakes are venomous not poisonous.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by squeakems91

Rattlesnakes are venomous not poisonous.

In as much as venom is a poison secreted by an animal, rattlesnakes are most certainly poisonous.

[Greatday]

A rattlesnake bite can kill you.

[Nearborn]

A rattlesnake bite can kill you.

\

In Japan, the hand can be used like a knife......but not on a tomato!

[jsherman9901]

Originally Posted by squeakems91

Rattlesnakes are venomous not poisonous.

That is an accurate, but stupid, statement.

[Greatday]

Here - if we cannot scoot them away (which we can normally), the rattlesnake may end up being part of a hat band and part of friday nights BBQ

[LBear]

Which is worse, a bite by a Brown Recluse Spider or a Western Diamondback?

[iamnatto]

I cannot believe some of the things I have been reading on these threads!!!!!!

Scorpions ARE NOT EVERYWHERE in Phoenix, everyone DOES NOT have them. Be careful where you buy or rent. Scorpions are most common in new developments on the desert outskirts (You are moving into their territory and they have been stirred up in the construction), on or at the base of mountains, and scorpion populations are VERY VERY HEAVY in homes built in citrus orchards. The moisture from irrigation and plentiful food supply from insects that feed off the dropped fruit is the perfect home for them. We have a lot of citrus orchards here and with the building boom the builders came in and built homes in the orchards and there are scorpions everywhere in those subdivisions.

I have NEVER seen a scorpion (or a snake) of any kind in or outside of any home I have lived in. I was BORN here and have lived in various areas of Phoenix/Mesa for my entire 50 years. Neither have any of my neighbors in the 50 years. I never buy a home in or near an old citrus orchard, a new desert or mountain location. I buy on old farm land. I have lived in my current home for 13 years and it is built on an old potato field. No scorpions around this area as there was no food for them in the insect controlled farm fields.

Yes, scorpions are all around the city in "pockets", and yes they are climbers so you will have them in upper floor apartments if they have scorpions there. The age of the neighborhood does not matter, because if the area started out with scorpions they are there forever, there is no eliminating them. I am sure you can decrease them and control them, but they will never be completely gone.

The local saying here is "you either have scorpions, or you don't". If you do have them, you will never get rid of them. They are very territorial. All you can do is seal your house, spray, hunt with a black light, etc.

I have had many friends who have purchased $Million+ homes in old orchards here in Mesa and everything people say about living with them is true. They are so infested with scorpions that most of them put their homes up for sale within 4 months. Some have stayed and live with it and it doesn't bother them. It just depends on how you personally feel about it and how you choose to live. Home sellers in Arizona are required to disclose if they have seen a scorpion in or around their home to the buyers on the seller’s disclosure statement.

Snakes are very uncommon in the city. They live in the desert where their food source is. You may get them living in an sub division that boarders desert areas or belts. It seems to me a few of you (Some who do not even live here) are purposefully painting a very skewed picture of a city that is geographically larger than L.A.! Like this 500+ square mile radius has all its homes infested with snakes, scorpions and back widows. PLEASE!

On the other hand.. go for it. I am so sick of people moving here! It was a nice little city of 50K people. Now it is a huge place with traffic jams and people that come here and complain that it wasn't like where they moved from.