Forgot to ask about snakes...

[Big House]

Originally Posted by mr&mrssunshine

nearly as quick as the Big House heading for a bar !!

LOL, its all about motivation!

[mrcoolmrcool28]

Originally Posted by mr&mrssunshine

nearly as quick as the big house heading for a bar !!

lol!!! :d

[CAT1954]

I too am contemplating moving to sarasota and i have a bit of a snake phobia...esp. Since i saw a show on tv about the african mambas are verified to be in fla. Anyway, i realize that it is something i will have to get used to if i move. Noone can tell you what you will or will not encounter in any case. If anyone knows of any techniques to desensitize, let me know...thanks

[SoFLGal]

I'm not sure about desensitizing but I can give you the straight scoop on them. Snakes are an issue that I hear about regularly. There are 45 different types of snakes in Florida with only 6 being venomous. Most won’t bother you and just eat things like small rodents, rabbits, rats, mice, and other types of small animals. The majority of snakes are good to have around the yard and control any over abundant rodent populations.

Many of the venomous snakes like to live in wooded areas under rocks or around swampy, marshy areas. Generally, they don’t want to be bothered when encountered, so if you leave them alone usually they’ll run the other way. Often times when people get bitten is when they try to handle a snake, not realizing that the snake is poisonous. If you kill a snake the snakes reflexes are still “live” for a short period after you have killed it, so don’t immediately handle it or you might get bitten.
The six snakes that are venomous are The Southern Copperhead, which is only found in the panhandle area and not in SW Florida. The Cottonmouth, commonly called a water moccasin, which is primarily found around brackish water and marsh areas. The Eastern Diamond Back, they like palmetto thickets, under brush and Gopher Tortoise holes and are found throughout Florida. Next is the Timber Rattlesnake which is only found in 9 counties in Florida and SW Florida is not included in it's range. Moving on to the Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake, which is found throughout Florida around ponds and in underbrush. And lastly we have the Eastern Coral Snake, which of my 37 years living here have never seen one. Supposedly they are found throughout Florida. If you absolutely hate snakes you could get this stuff called Snake-Away and I heard this keeps them away from your house or where ever you put it.

The latest news reports state that there is now an invasive species of Burmese Python known to inhabit the Everglades and they are large enough to eat goats. Although they are not poisonous they can be a danger to humans due to their large size. I have never seen this type of snake in SW FL.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

I'm not sure about desensitizing but I can give you the straight scoop on them. Snakes are an issue that I hear about regularly. There are 45 different types of snakes in Florida with only 6 being venomous. Most won’t bother you and just eat things like small rodents, rabbits, rats, mice, and other types of small animals. The majority of snakes are good to have around the yard and control any over abundant rodent populations.

Many of the venomous snakes like to live in wooded areas under rocks or around swampy, marshy areas. Generally, they don’t want to be bothered when encountered, so if you leave them alone usually they’ll run the other way. Often times when people get bitten is when they try to handle a snake, not realizing that the snake is poisonous. If you kill a snake the snakes reflexes are still “live” for a short period after you have killed it, so don’t immediately handle it or you might get bitten.
The six snakes that are venomous are The Southern Copperhead, which is only found in the panhandle area and not in SW Florida. The Cottonmouth, commonly called a water moccasin, which is primarily found around brackish water and marsh areas. The Eastern Diamond Back, they like palmetto thickets, under brush and Gopher Tortoise holes and are found throughout Florida. Next is the Timber Rattlesnake which is only found in 9 counties in Florida and SW Florida is not included in it's range. Moving on to the Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake, which is found throughout Florida around ponds and in underbrush. And lastly we have the Eastern Coral Snake, which of my 37 years living here have never seen one. Supposedly they are found throughout Florida. If you absolutely hate snakes you could get this stuff called Snake-Away and I heard this keeps them away from your house or where ever you put it.

The latest news reports state that there is now an invasive species of Burmese Python known to inhabit the Everglades and they are large enough to eat goats. Although they are not poisonous they can be a danger to humans due to their large size. I have never seen this type of snake in SW FL.

I heard that the recent cold snap killed off many of the burmese pythons, at least the larger ones. They are prolific breeders however and their numbers will recover in force.

They are in Florida to stay now.

They get quite large and can certainly kill an adult male (and have) once they get to 12ft. + and can grow over 20ft. long. Sorry, it's just sad that people released these invasive species into the wild.