[eddie gein]

If your land is around Seminole you are on the very edge of the water moccasin habitat. They would be rare there. Probably pygmy rattlers and copperheads would be the snakes around there.

The one post about Mangum and the Wichitas is an entirely different part of the state and he is right that there are rattlers in the rockier parts of western oklahoma.

There are a lot of non poison snakes in Oklahoma.

[MamaJo]

Snakes give me the heeby geebees too, although I don't believe in harming them unless its me or them. My secret to keep them away from the house is to keep guineas and protect the native road runners around my place.

The fiddleback spiders in Oklahoma are much more dangerous than the snakes. They live in your house.

[Ridgerunner]

I have read that snakes have very poor eyesight. If this is true, how do so many of them manage to get through law school?

[_redbird_]

Originally Posted by tigerfan

Thanks for the information from all you folks. We are looking at a couple of hundred acres about 5 miles south of Seminole - 40% pasture and 60% timber. Also, the property backs up to a 55 acre lake. Any comments on this area would be appreciated. Cottonmouths may be a problem if we go swimming in the lake, but I don't know for sure.

There was a story in the OKC paper about a man in Tecumseh, not far from Seminole, who was bit by three different types of rattlesnakes during one incident!
After the first one bit him, he fell back and another one bit him on the hand and when he pulled back from that one, the third one bit him. Its in the Oklahoman, if you want to check it out under archives from last summer.

We live close to Seminole, and although there ARE snakes here, its not something you should let stop you from living here. This IS country living, and its par for the course.

[Mattie Jo]

I have been here only 5 months and haven't seen but one snake. my dog brought it in the house dead, and i felt bad that she killed it since it was a gopher snake. i lived in Florida near the swamps and saw snakes constantly. my other dog walked up to a cottonmouth, and i told her to get away. being that she minded very well, she did and didn't get hurt. now that swamp was scary.

[shad8974]

They have an annual rattlesnake hunt and festival near the Tulsa metro area- you might be able to get over your fear.

[kjhtulsa]

I need advice. We are considering purchasing a house out in the rural Checotah/Eufaula, Ok area. It is on approx 1 acre with the house right in the middle with a large yard...there are a few houses nearby but several hundred yards away. The property backs up to alot of acreage that looks like pasture area with tall grass. There isn't water very close by I don't think. I have never really lived in the country and I am scared of snakes and mice both, but especially snakes. In fact, I am absolutely terrified of snakes and after reading on the internet about problems people have with snakes, I wondering if we should scrap the idea of country living.
Does this home sound like a haven for snakes and rodents? I thought about asking the owners that are selling if they have a problem with snakes but I'm not sure I'll get an honest answer since they want to sell. Any advice? Please!

[Synopsis]

As long as you keep the grass cut around your living area and areas that you would normally venture you should be okay. Snakes like rocks and tall grass. I live in the DFW metro area, an area that has around 6 million people and we have a greenbelt that runs behind our house and there are snakes of all kinds that live in there. I mow the area occasionally and won't go out there unless I have on boots and make sure to watch my step. Once in awhile, if I let the grass in our yard get too high they'll come into our yard as well, but they stay well away from areas where they'll be exposed to any potential predators.
I found a poisonous snake in my yard just last week in an area that was littered with leaves and where the grass hadn't been mowed all winter.
It's wise to be wary of snakes and watch your step, and keep your lawn in order, but you shouldn't have a problem if you keep your area "snake unfriendly."

[momof2dfw]

Up around Davis, Ok there is a camp, Camp Goddard (been there). They sit on top of a VERY LARGE rattlesnake den several miles long underground. The camp is located on the lake w/ lots of underground rock formations and "caves" for the snakes to have a large nest. This camp has schools & church groups of kids come from all over and they have never had a problem. When we were there for a week we saw 1 small baby rattler and two other groups each saw one. The director told us that at first they tried to "dynamite" the snakes out but that just created larger "dens" underground for them . They tried some other ways to "get rid" of them but nothing worked so they just let them be and have been fine ever since. I told my group just like the director said, don't go running thru piles of leaves or fall into them, don't pick up rocks, if you go to stand, climb over or sit on a rock look first (all things I already knew growing up and running around east Texas on my grandparents properties). We hiked and climbed all over that place and never had any problems. Being that this camp sits ON TOP of a large rattlesnake den they are not going to open themselves up to too much liability if there really was a problem. We went out on a canoe on the lake and another group there was swimming in the lake, no problems at all. As Synopsis said, just keep the grass around your yard mowed down and be careful when opening stuff up outside like even the grill (found one there one time on our lake property ). I'm in the suburbs of Dallas and we even have snakes. We killed a small baby one last week in our backyard. No biggie.

[BudinAk]

That is one of the things I like about Alaska: NO snakes...not a one. You can walk throught the grass and woods without a care. And the worst that can happen by the water is you might fall in. Winters are TOO long and TOO cold though...seems like no matter where you go in this world, you can't win...there will always be something bad about the place...

Bud