Snakes in Portland (Tigard, Tualatin, Wood Village: homes, neighborhoods, living in)

[emersonheights]

Thinking of moving to Portland, Or. Just wondering about the Snakes in Portland. I have seen pictures from the Tualatin Hills Nature Park and it looked like there is alot of Snakes there. Is is there alot of snakes in the portland Neighborhoods? Where I live have some small garter snakes that show up rarely. Only in Marshy arears.

[Nell Plotts]

The only snakes I have ever encountered after 50+ years of living in Portland have been garter snakes.

[hml1976]

As an ex-Southerner one of my favorite things about Portland is the absence of poisonous snakes.

[Wicked Felina]

I can't recall seeing even one in the city in over 20+ years.

[Élan vital]

Originally Posted by hml1976

As an ex-Southerner one of my favorite things about Portland is the absence of poisonous snakes.

woohoo...same here. No longer need to worry about where I step in my yard. In the deep south you had to watch before you stepped out your front door in case a rattler or cotton mouth moccasin was there or any of the other poisonous snakes that love the deep south.

[malachai23]

I saw one in Wood Village once. LOL

[emersonheights]

Thanks for the info- : )

[Minervah]

One of my cats caught a garter snake when I lived in Tigard. So Tigard has snakes. I've never seen snakes in Porltand though, only slugs.

[HonuMan]

Last spring, I was walking in Tualatin Hills Nature Park, and I saw at least a dozen small garter snakes in a sunny area. They probably had recently hatched and were enjoying the weather, as was I. I like snakes, so that was a cool experience for me. Other than that, I've seen a few garter snakes over the years. I believe you have to cross over to the dry side of the Cascades before you encounter rattlesnakes.

As someone who moved here from Atlanta, one thing I like about the PNW is the relative lack of bothersome insects. In 12 years, I've never seen a cockroach. If I leave a door or window open during warm weather, a couple of flies will enter, but not the swarms I'd get in the South. Termites aren't a problem. We have almost no mosquitoes in my neighborhood, although they can be bad near bodies of still water. When I drive on the highway, my windshield doesn't get plastered with smashed bugs. If I forget to seal up rice, dry cereal, dried beans, etc., they might lose crispness due to humidity, but they won't become infested with insects.

On the other hand, spiders, ants, and earwigs love the area. The ants and earwigs thus far have stayed out of the house. The spiders haven't, but I'm fine with spiders (although two people I know were bitten in their homes by brown recluse spiders within the past year, or at least that was what their doctors diagnosed). Instead of termites, we have carpenter ants. Overall, though, it's remarkably bug-free here.

[Wicked Felina]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

...one thing I like about the PNW is the relative lack of bothersome insects. In 12 years, I've never seen a cockroach. ...If I forget to seal up rice, dry cereal, dried beans, etc., they might lose crispness due to humidity, but they won't become infested with insects. Overall, though, it's remarkably bug-free here.

I plumb forgot about roaches. I moved here from NY - even in the ritziest of buildings, roaches were all over the place. Classy, upper-east side roaches! There's no way to get rid of them.

Now that you mention it, I have never found a bug in cereal, sugar that's not been tightly contained, bread accidentally being left out. Like you said, ants, yes. And spiders in the fall and springtime, but they're little ones.

Thanks for the reminders of how bug-free we are here ~