Recluse and Copperheads (Lafayette, Charlotte: houses, water heater, live in)

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by hilly7

There are copperheads and rattlesnakes but you seldom ever see them ( I live close to Smokies). As for Brown Recluse I've been bitten twice, once on elbow, once on finger. They stay in dry places like closets, old seldom woren shoes, etc. If treated early you don't loose much meat. Black Widows are a different story, look for them in damp places. My youngest daughter came in the house with one she caught earlier this week and one last week.

I see Black Widows mostly in outdoor locations (under large upturned pots, or in storage buildings, or in crawl spaces). I don't think I've ever seen a BW inside. Of course if you have a daughter bringing them in . . . ;-)

As you mentioned, I've seen more Brown Recluses in old shoes than anywhere else.

[hiknapster]

Klosk: I am paranoid and over plan everything. Sounds like we are alike. In the end, you could get hit by a bus. Please, don't worry.

I lived in Florida for years; home of the rattlers, fire ants, gators, lizards, flying cockroaches, and liberated pythons.

I'm here to tell about it.

You're in New Mexico, that has its share of spiders, snakes and scorpions.

You might be safer here!

[hilly7]

Originally Posted by klosk

Where do you live in Tennessee? Is it close to woods? What kind of snakes were they? You know baby rattlers are worse then adults as their venom is thiner and travels quicker though your system. My sis lives in Tucson, Az. and my brother-in-law almost picked up a baby rattler in their kitchen. He thought is was a dog toy.

I live in White Pine which is close to Smokies (Jefferson County). Yep, we live back in the woods but not too far, actually just about 1 mile out of town but where I saw the rattlers was twice at the lake about 1/2 mile below where I live. I've also seen them in Hawkins, Grainger & Greene.
Copperheads I've seen back at the house but hardly ever. They seem more in remote and mountain areas anymore. Did see one yesterday in the garden, he went one way I went the other, no big deal.
I gotta say that I've never seen a baby rattler here.

There aren't many around and I've never seen an agressive one so it's not like they are going to attack you. You just learn where to walk and look in front, hardly ever does anyone get sanke bit here. Spiders bites are pretty frequent but again they are not agressive. No, the Brown Recluse bite dosen't hurt or at least neither of mine did. The aftermath ain't too much fun.

Originally Posted by alleycat

I see Black Widows mostly in outdoor locations (under large upturned pots, or in storage buildings, or in crawl spaces). I don't think I've ever seen a BW inside. Of course if you have a daughter bringing them in . . . ;-)

As you mentioned, I've seen more Brown Recluses in old shoes than anywhere else.

Your right, Megan heads for the barn, plays in the woods. She is the outdoors wild child. She feeds the animals where we are and walks over the fences everyday which go through some woods. Nobody tells here to do that, she just does worring about the Llamas & fainting goats.

They do however sometimes build in damp basements or in our case get carried in.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by hilly7

Your right, Megan heads for the barn, plays in the woods. She is the outdoors wild child. She feeds the animals where we are and walks over the fences everyday which go through some woods. Nobody tells here to do that, she just does worring about the Llamas & fainting goats.

Sounds like my childhood. When I was little I used to go out in the woods far and wide. Sometimes too far . . . and I would count on my trusty dog to show me the way back home. By the way, where we lived this was perfectly fine; if I had gotten completely lost I would have just kept on walking until I came to a house, then I would have told them who I was and they would have probably known my folks and taken me back home.

Some things really were better back then.

[sliverbox]

We had a fair amount of copper heads when I was growing up. They seem to like water and we had a creek in the back yard, so that's perhaps why we had them. We had a lot of black snakes. But we left them alone because they are helpful for eating mice and other varmits. We had a massive black snake I named George who came out every summer. Almost ran him over with the riding mower a few times.

I never had a problem with recluses or snakes, and we ran around barefoot all summer. But I always recommend people keep their lawns mowed so that you can see them. Where I live now we have to deal with rattlesnakes, of which there are many... that and mountain lions which are even more concerning.

[klosk]

Originally Posted by alleycat

I see Black Widows mostly in outdoor locations (under large upturned pots, or in storage buildings, or in crawl spaces). I don't think I've ever seen a BW inside. Of course if you have a daughter bringing them in . . . ;-)

As you mentioned, I've seen more Brown Recluses in old shoes than anywhere else.

Yes, I have seen widows inside my homes on many occasions out here. They like to get up into the door frames from the bottom and if you have a window opened at night they will crawl inside. But I have never bit by one.

[Kpt.]

Originally Posted by klosk

I take it though that they(recluse) are around and you do see them. Am I correct?

Actually, I don't know what a brown recluse looks like so no, I can't say I see them. Basically I avoid (or dispose of) any spiders I see and have never worried about being bitten. I've lived with spiders in my environment all my life and it is not anything I'm consciously concerned about to any degree.

[ALLVOL]

I have lived in TN my entire 37 years and saw my first Timber Rattler this spring (after the floods) she looked as if she washoilding her clutch as long as she could before laying. I've seen Pygmies in the Smokies (13 years in east TN; the rest in Mid TN aside from a year or so in the Rockies) I saw many mroe "dangerous creatures" out west than I ever saw in TN. Iam an avid outdoorsman so it is not frm lack of being "out there among them". Our bears would rather run up a tree or down into a hollar (unless spring babies are in the equation) than run towards you. Brown recluses are just that "recluse" so just wear gloves if you are suspect of where you are putting your hands. As mentioned before the aftermath is much worse than the bite (I have been "lucky" enough to have had that experience) and I never knew I was bitten until about a week later. Per Black Widows, you'll be lucky if you ever see one. Do check under swings if you have lil un's, before they jump on. I've seen several and about 80% of them were under swingsets. Maybe because most (swingsets) are placed in shady damp areas. IN short, you need not worry. If you have a barn with cows or any livestock I would check before I step. Per Mr. No-shoulders Remember round eye = good; vertical eye = go back the way you came (nice and easy)

[gumpop]

I have lived here for two months and have come accross three Brown Recluses (all in different locations, none in my home) and one black widow.

[Lamplight]

I've lived here all my life and I've seen several rattlesnakes, a copperhead, a scorpion, probably 10-12 black widows and dozens of brown recluses. And so far I haven't been bitten or injured by any of them. Once when I was younger I even caught a black widow with my bare hands. I wouldn't recommend that, but I wasn't bitten! I only know one person who was bitten by a black widow (my dad) and I've only heard of people being bitten by brown recluses; never actually knew anyone who was.