Scorpions, Tarantulas, Snakes, Oh-My (Austin: work, home, subdivision)

[Dazed]

HAHA!! I was with 4 girls when we found him and we all were screaming and making such a commotion! All of us were too scared to touch him to get him away from the house, but we had to take pictures! I hope he's not poisonous, because he went into my back yard and I have a 5 lbs. dog that he would probably want to eat!

I live in Manor in a new subdivision. I have no houses on either side of me, so I'm guessing that I'll be seeing these kind of things for awhile!

[texasdreamin]

Is there a place where they sell those snake catchers to the public? They are like long tongs and you pick the snake up, just back from the head. If I can get one of those, I won't be afraid to deal with them. I refuse to kill them, unless there is imminent danger to a life.

[gigi927]

This is a great resource for identifying the snakes of Texas. Our coral snake was poisonous.
http://www.bugsinthenews.com/Texas%2...t_Venomous.htm

[sydtow]

that almost looks exactly like the snake I saw off of 2222! I did some research and I think it might be a diamondback watersnake (not venomous)... a site called Austin Reptile Service has lots of pictures of snakes that can be found in the area. Mountain lions? I've only heard about that once... but now that I've heard about it again, it's kind of creepy. I thought you can only find them in Big Bend (as far as Texas goes) or something.....

[AustinTraveler]

Okay, enough snake talk.

On a lighter, less creepy note, has anyone else been enjoying the fireflies lately? I can't get over how many we have here. I lived in Florida for over 30years and never saw one. They're awesome.

Okay, back to snakes if you must.

[Dazed]

Sorry, back to snake talk. My snake was a rat snake. It's not poisonous, but it will bite if angered. They eat rats and mice. I better not find either of those near or in my house!!!!

[love roses]

I do know that there are mountain lions near Tyler. My grandmother lives in the country outside of Tyler and they do have them. There was a rogue one that was hunting dogs not long ago, and they had a warning out to keep your kids and small animals inside, since it was hunting very close to people. I never heard if they caught it, but noones told me anything more. Tyler is close to Dallas, and Dallas is North of us, so it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few. Never seen one here, though. Houston still has Bobcats.

[Driftwood1]

I would agree he's a Rat Snake. those are essentally harmless, they wont bite till you REALLY bother them. He has a valuable job of eating , mice, rats etc. and the less of those there are the less likely another type of snake (Rattler) will have enough food to move in. Chase him off with a broom and leave him be. Heck I'd name him and call him a yard pet! Snake are everywhere, not just in TX, if you havent seen one, you havent been outside enough!
Our neighbor had a Coral snake also in her garden, now thase ARE dangerous.

Also the Wildflower Center supposedly had a Mountain Lion for a bit last year..

So why not forget the "yechy" animals for a bit, and say who has what?

Driftwood: ---we've seen--

Fox
Coyote
Wild Hog
Turkey
Ringtail
Skunk
Raccoon
Lizards
Herons
ducks
Hawks
Mexican Eagle
rabbits
Jackrabbits

I will not list deer, if you havent see one in Texas, you're blind..

(:>
G

[love roses]

Hutto: I'll also say what I've seen in RR:

Snakes
rabbits
coyotes
Hawks
bats
lizards (large grey striped ones)
turtles
ducks
geese
skunks
squirrels
possums
hummingbirds
mockingbirds (my neighbor has heard them)

[love roses]

Oh, I forgot one:
It's a bird, mostly seen at dusk, and it looks sort of like a small sea gull. They have a high pitched chirp. Does anyone know the name of it?