Alligators and Snakes in Jax or St. Augustine (Jacksonville, Palmetto: real estate, new house)

[BlueWillowPlate]

There are pygmy rattlers too--they really are small, and can give a nasty bite, but usually it is not fatal. I saw them fairly frequently in northwest Florida, along with a couple of cottonmouths.
In addition, there is the Copperhead, also found in the Panhandle, as well as the Timber rattlesnake.
Florida's Venomous Snakes
Snakes do scare me, but I know they would pretty much like to be left alone, and anything that eats rodents is all right by me.

[Love2LiveNCities]

i threw a little pebble at what i thought was a log on my JU riverfront area. it snapped to the left, and then i pretty much pissed myself. Damn muddy alligators! how was i supposed to know! i honestly was playing with a stone and tossed it...and then BAM gator was making noises and being....gatorly

[HParr]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

I believe there are three snakes in Florida that are poisonous. The very large eastern diamond back rattler, the small but deadly coral snake, and the water moccasin.

You said the "very large" eastern diamond back rattler? How large is it? I'm afraid for your response, I'm sure it's going to freak me out!!! Jeeze my son hunts for frogs with his little friend, they don't hurt them, they name them and make little habitats for them for the day, it's just something that they made up to do to make the long summer days pass by. But now I'm worried about the very large eastern diamond back rattler, jeeze-louise! Do you know the most likely places to find these snakes so I can tell my son to stay away from those areas? Thanks so much for the info! Oh lord I can't stand snakes, they totally give me the creeps!!! I think that if I came across one, it wouldn't have to do anything to me because I'd die of a heart attack!!!

[HParr]

Originally Posted by Love2LiveNCities

i threw a little pebble at what i thought was a log on my JU riverfront area. it snapped to the left, and then i pretty much pissed myself. Damn muddy alligators! how was i supposed to know! i honestly was playing with a stone and tossed it...and then BAM gator was making noises and being....gatorly

You crack me up! I am laughing outloud because I just saw myself doing the same thing if I would have been in that situation! I would have probably hyperventilated and fainted, it would have been over for me, the thing would have probably eaten me! Or I would have ran like a crazy person and started screaming like a lunatic!!!

Where is the JU riverfront area so we can stay away from there?

[joninclay]

Originally Posted by HParr

You crack me up! I am laughing outloud because I just saw myself doing the same thing if I would have been in that situation! I would have probably hyperventilated and fainted, it would have been over for me, the thing would have probably eaten me! Or I would have ran like a crazy person and started screaming like a lunatic!!!

Where is the JU riverfront area so we can stay away from there?

University Blvd. North - Ft. Caroline area.

Like I said, FL has four (not three) types of poisonous snakes: cottonmouth (aka water moccasin); copperhead; coral snake; and rattlesnake. There are a few different species of rattlesnakes (diamondbacks, timber, dusky pygmy), but it's pretty easy to identify a rattler, regardless of what kind it is!

Blue Willow Plate has a great link.

[angelic1]

OMG this post has been hilarious and just the medicine I needed being sick in bed..lol. My husband and I lived in Jax for about 5 years while he was stationed at Mayport. We had a house in a suburb with a "pond" in the back yard that was surrounded by other houses. We use to sit outside all the time because it was so quiet there. We knew there was a gator there and we thought he was just about 4 foot maybe, but one weekend he came out of the pond and was heading over to another pond and wildlife ppl came and got him because he was actually about ft and was freaking people out. There had never been any reports of missing pets or kids or people but an 8 foot gator in the back yard can be intimidating. I will pass on to you what I was told when I first came to FL...If there's water...there is a gator whether you see him or not. I don't swim in the lakes nor do I let my dog. We enjoy the crystal clear pool so we know what's in the water. As for snakes, I'm scared to death of them and have seen several. Mostly black racers which even though they scare the crap out of me I know won't hurt me. I have seen a rattler in the street at the end of the driveway, but my husband and father in law took care of it as I ran screaming into the house...lol. The biggest thing that I'll say is to echo what everyone else is saying too...just be aware of your surroundings and keep your eyes open. Don't live in fear though because then you'll not be able to enjoy Florida living!!

[ttefylooc]

Originally Posted by HParr

What do you all do? Is there some kind of spray.... ?

A spray for gators?? You could easily get that back in Georgia!

[HParr]

Originally Posted by ttefylooc

A spray for gators?? You could easily get that back in Georgia!

Jeeze you're right, what was I thinking, I just found my bottle of "Alligators Be Gone" that I bought when I lived in Georgia, thanks for reminding me. Now, I know that I had a bottle of "Smart_ _ _ _ _ Be Gone" too somewhere, hum let me look for it, sounds like you need a squirt of it, supposedly it makes people get back to being NICE. Lighten up. Don't attack Georgia, it's beautiful there and there are many wonderful people there that are educated with brains. And for your information I was born here in Florida, were you?

[ttefylooc]

Originally Posted by HParr

Jeeze you're right, what was I thinking, I just found my bottle of "Alligators Be Gone" that I bought when I lived in Georgia, thanks for reminding me. Now, I know that I had a bottle of "Smart_ _ _ _ _ Be Gone" too somewhere, hum let me look for it, sounds like you need a squirt of it, supposedly it makes people get back to being NICE. Lighten up. Don't attack Georgia, it's beautiful there and there are many wonderful people there that are educated with brains. And for your information I was born here in Florida, were you?

It was a football joke Georgia Bulldogs & Florida Gators I was taking a shot at Gator fans........Yes I was born in Jacksonville FL at St Vincents in Riverside on Barr Street on the Westside. Sorry.

Bulldogs have Gator spray....cause they don't like them....get it?

[HParr]

Originally Posted by ttefylooc

It was a football joke Georgia Bulldogs & Florida Gators I was taking a shot at Gator fans........Yes I was born in Jacksonville FL at St Vincents in Riverside on Barr Street on the Westside. Sorry.

Bulldogs have Gator spray....cause they don't like them....get it?

My apologies to you. I'm not familiar with GA Bulldog/Gator jokes yet, I'm still new here. I'm sorry that I misinterpreted your post, my bad. I've always had a hard time understanding sports jokes since I'm not much of a sports fan. I thought for sure that you were making a crack at my intelligence for coming here from Georgia and that you were telling me to go back to Georgia where I came from. You sound like a nice person, sorry about that, I guess that I'm a little on edge still from the whirlwind that I've been in from the move here. I'll be better soon.

As a side note, not that your interested...and I know that this is more than you want to know... so please don't read this if your not interested...but I remember one time in church when I was a little girl...my uncle was in a hospital, wrapped up like a mummy because he was burned so badly fro head to toe in an explosion...I remember how shocked and upset that I was when I first saw him at the hospital...I was sitting in the front row at church one Sunday and the Pastor asked if anyone had someone that they would like for him to pray for...and I got up the courage to stand up in front of the whole congregation and ask him to pray for my uncle...and he said well I guess that we can pray for him even though ... ... ... ... ... he said some kind of sports joke about Georgia and another state...the entire congregation laughed for what seemed like forever...it seemed so loud because I was a little girl...and I remember turning beet red, with my heart pounding so hard...my eyes filled with tears because I couldn't believe that they made a joke about something that I was truly terrified about, I mean I think that I wasn't even sure if my uncle was going to live or not...SO in saying all of that, I guess that I still don't understand sports jokes and I get a way too defensive if a joke is made about something, somewhere, or someone that I love. I never will forget that day in church...I was devistated...I trusted those people in that safe place called church...since then I have changed religions and it changed my life for the better in ways that you would never believe. Oh and by the way that was over 35 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Wow sometimes the citydata forum is like my live journal that talks back to me...sorry...sorry...sorry that I gave you TMI!