ok so i am a little scared... (Raleigh, Garner: home, neighborhoods) - The Triangle Area - City-Data Forum

JWells · 05-21-2008, 07:37 AM

i have been reading thru the posts and 2 things pop out that scare me a little. and i am wondering if i need to worry about this or if I am just not used to it so it stands out to me.

snakes and tornadoes in nc. should this freak me out or do you just get used to it or am i just paranoid right now.

i know we have snakes but i dont think any poisonous ones...

it gets me wondering what others who arent from NJ, but coming here scares them and I dont even think 2ce about. however....i rarely ever see people moving to NJ?? go figure

redjuel · 05-21-2008, 07:43 AM

I've lived in NC for nine years now. I've never seen a snake and never taken cover for a tornado. I wouldn't worry about it if I was you.

House Lady · 05-21-2008, 07:49 AM

in NJ, but it is a bit more expensive than NC.
There are poisonous snakes in every state. If you want to avoid them, you want to stay away from areas they like. I have lived in a downtown area since 1996 and never see any, although I garden big time. Heavy vegetation and ground covers, as well as bodies of water are attractors for snakes. That is one reason I do not like ivy or vinca in my yard. That kind of vegetation attracts small mammals, which attract snakes. Also, the snakes can hide in it, which they like since they are shy. Stay away from the "woodsy" kinds of neighborhoods and bodies of water, no matter where you live.
As to tornados, they are also found eveywhere as well. Buy a well-constructed home and pay attention to weather warnings!

findingmesomeday · 05-21-2008, 08:01 AM

At least you can be warned about tornadoes. I was living in Northern California in October of 1989. I still have nightmares about that earthquake.

Dire Wolf · 05-21-2008, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redjuel

I've lived in NC for nine years now. I've never seen a snake and never taken cover for a tornado. I wouldn't worry about it if I was you.

I've lived in NC my whole life. I've also never had to take cover for a tornado. A few times I've been glued to the TV watching Greg Fishel tell me about possible tornadoes and followed the path of those systems to see if they would come towards me, but they never have. The only significant tornado I remember happened almost 20 years ago and destroyed a K-Mart at Pleasant Valley. I pay much more attention to hurricanes ever since Fran, but not tornadoes.

As for snakes, I've see 2-3 snakes a year. Most are harmless garden snakes and very small. Spiders and ticks and mosquitoes are a bigger deal that snakes.

Moonwalkr · 05-21-2008, 08:26 AM

Yeah, instead of worrying about snakes, worry about the nest full of black widows in your crawlspace. Other than that, it's a great area to live!

dhwilkin · 05-21-2008, 09:40 AM

Hurricanes and spiders are much bigger pests than tornadoes (never seen one) and snakes (rarely see harmless garden varieties) down here.

saturnfan · 05-21-2008, 10:18 AM

Tornadoes in the area last night. Big one hit North Raleigh in 1988. Warnings between 4 and 6 PM.

A few years ago, church in Garner where my son took Bible classes lost a building to a small tornado.

Here's yesterday's storm story.

Heavy hail replaced by mostly clear skies Wednesday :: WRAL.com

frogandtoad · 05-21-2008, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWells

i know we have snakes but i dont think any poisonous ones...

Yes you do!! You have the exact same snakes in NJ as NC! NJ has both copperheads and rattlers, just as this part of NC does. You can look it up if you don't believe me! So you should be no more worried about these here than you were there.

NJ does not have an cottonmouths, which there are in NC but they are mostly in Eastern NC (although apparently there are a few in this area...I only know b/c I looked up UNC's medical records for snake bites and they do have some cases of cottonmouth bites in this area--but more copperheads. And again--you have the same thing in NJ).

Maine is the only state in the continental US which has no recorded venomous snakes.

And btw, TONS of people move to NJ--way more than NC!!

lamishra · 05-21-2008, 11:11 AM

I've lived in NC my whole life and have taken cover from a tornado once (about 10 years ago in Garner, the same one Saturnfan mentioned).
I've seen ONE poisonous snake (in a swamp, it fell into our boat in SE NC). I've seen plenty of little harmless garden snakes though. I can see how it would be frightening to an outsider but it's not something I worry about.