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I am contemplating moving to Raleigh, NC area from Detroit metro. The only reason I am thinking of the move is to get out of the terrible/harsh winter that we experienced this year. After reading few articles online and seeing statistics, I see the RTL area and the NC state in general has a lot of snakes. Is it true? I get chills even imagining seeing a snake in my garden. How worried should I be with this factor? How common are snakes in a city like Cary and surroundings? In Michigan we have snakes, but most of them are not poisonous and we dont see them in the metro area that is densely populated.
You'll probably see a snake at some point. My DD was walking on a greenway a couple weeks ago with a friend and saw a dead one (it was near a creek). It's not going to be a daily occurrence.
It depends on where you live. If you live in a wooded development near a creek, there will be snakes - I almost stepped on a copperhead last night. Not fun. But that was the first live one I've seen in several years (I usually see dead ones).
I've seen non-poisonous ones with some regularity; just avoid having leaf piles or hiding places for them. Sorry to scare you! I don't see them daily. I also live in an area that would be very snake friendly.
Absolutely, totally, horrified of them. Never spotted one in the PNW. We were very specific about choosing a lot that DIDN'T back to any wooded area, because I have *that* level of issues.. Talking, the poor soul that married me wakes up to the nightmares that I have of them. So far, so good. Neighbors who back to woods, are spotting all kinds of s* words.. I'm sure at the rate given of our neighbors post's, that it's simply a matter of time at this rate.
We were walking around Lake Lynn last week and saw a banded water snake in the shallow water. About 10 mins before that I was thinking about the summer and bring my son to the lake to fish and put our feet in the water. Might not put my feet in the water now.
If you do a search on snakes you'll see a long thread I started a few months back. Beware there are photos in it!!
Norasmom - where was this copperhead you nearly stood on? Yuck!
South square area of Durham - we have TONS of them here. I'm always hearing about someone's pet being bitten, or seeing a squashed one, or hearing about a neighbor being bitten. It's much worse for people living right next to the creek, which is where I was walking my dog last night. Not to the creek, but we were on the street next to it. At night they lie on the pavement because it's warm. No more dog walks in the dark without a flashlight! I was near a street light so I saw it just before I stepped on it. To his/her credit, we were ignored after a brief glance.
Edited to add: I'm a weirdo who likes snakes, but not so much the venomous ones. I'm ok with the non-venomous ones.
I am contemplating moving to Raleigh, NC area from Detroit metro. The only reason I am thinking of the move is to get ou t of the terrible/harsh winter that we experienced this year. After reading few articles online and seeing statistics, I see the RTL area and the NC state in general has a lot of snakes. Is it true? I get chills even imesagining seeing a snake in my garden. How worried should I be with this factor? How common are snakes in a city like Cary and surroundings? In Michigan we have snakes, but most of them are not poisonous and we dont see them in the metro area that is densely populated.
You will see as many snakes in the urban/metro areas as you do in Detroit....which is not bloody many.
If one goes out the the rural and newly suburban areas...you will see more....but even than it's not exactly 'snakes on a plane'.
We've seen one brown snake (non poisonous - you want to keep them around to take care of other pests) and one baby copperhead (never saw an adult) in over 10 years in Wake Forest....and our home backed up to a creek.
Raleigh is not the wilds myth of the deep south of myth that northern imaginations run away with. There are probably more snakes in the lakes and ponds up in MI. I saw more snakes growing up on Lake
Erie than I ever saw here.
Come for a visit and see if like the area......but to blame snakes for not seeing the area......well....rather laughable.
I see snakes not infrequently. I would definitely be surprised if a summer went by when I didn't see several. I believe I saw a dead one on my street last week (didn't give it a close inspection, but I'm 99% sure). I saw a nice garter snake on a hike on Sat (in the woods). I have a very wooded yard and we see them with some regularity.
I saw a baby copperhead at Straw Valley years ago (backs up to a shopping center with a Walmart, B&N, Best Buy). The baby copperheads are reportedly more dangerous than the adults because they will hang on and not let go, unlike an adult who just gives a quick bite. My dogs have been bitten three times (maybe they've learned by now), but none of us people have been bitten. I do know of three other people who have been bitten. IME, dogs actually metabolize the venom much faster and are usually fine the next day if not sooner, but people can suffer for weeks, require surgery, etc.
I don't mind snakes at all, but I do have enough sense to give the copperheads a wide berth. I had the same experience as NorasMom of walking the dogs at night in the spring/summer and a copperhead had come out into the middle of our street to warm up on the pavement. Dumb dog wanted to go sniff it, but I pulled him back before he could find out the hard way that that was a bad idea. That was the end of that walk!
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