Bears in wnc

[pleasantgirl]

I have to confess....I can't wait to see my first bear...preferably from a little distance....but I want to actually see such an awesome creature. The trail camera idea is great! When we get up there that's gonna be a must!

[pleasantgirl]

DCFairwind....as far as snakes I grew up on the coast of SC and still live here....you learn to watch where you put your feet and when your gardening where you put your hands. You also learn how to identify venomous snakes quickly. We will kill ven3mous ones if they are near the house but you need to be sure to let the good ones live. Don't be like my dad was....his theory was the only good snake was a dead snake. Many of them are very beneficial. Like everything else....educate yourself and learn to spot real danger and you can coexist nicely

[Susieisanartist]

DC Fairwinds- Vermont has one venomous snake, and we have two. Your main concern will be copperheads. They like watery areas. We had a lot in our yard when we lived by a creek and had a water feature. Since moving to a home in a sunny field, we have seen none. A good rule is to keep compost enclosed, because compost attracts rodents, which in turn attract snakes. Also, eliminate hiding places such as large rocks. But, it's not like you're going to run into a poisonous snake at every turn. It just pays to remember they're out there and to be safe.

[tsmw47]

We are on the side of a mountain and Copperheads up here too.Tough to move rocks as that is mostly what the mountains are :-) we have some house sized near us. Copperheads have been found in subdivisions in Charlotte. Stay alert NC has poisonous snakes just a part of life, learn to recognize them and don't put hands or feet where you can't see. Most snakes don't want to be near people and try to leave at least the rattlesnakes warn us.

[pleasantgirl]

The bad thing about copperheads is they can blend so well. They like to be under the azaela bushes. Here in the Charleston area we have all sorts of venomous snakes....several different rattlers.......copperheads.....water moccasins......even coral snakes (never personally seen one in the wild but I think I have actually seen all the others!). Everybody hunted whatever was in season all year. The only person I ever knew who got bitten was my aunt in her garden and it was by a small copperhead. The thing I really hate is walking in to a big spider web......do you have big banana spiders up there....the black and yellow ones that the body gets to be a couple of inches long? How about black and brown widow spiders?

[Susieisanartist]

There are black widows and brown recluses. When I lived in Florida, there were tons of banana spiders building those huge webs between trees. Walking into one of those at night was horrible! I don't know if it's warm enough for banana spiders in this part of North Carolina (or maybe it is, but they just don't achieve that impressive size here).

[motordavid]

^ Yes to both, even 'up here' at our higher elevation...
I actually see an occasional BW more often than a BR, though the BWs around our house tend to be infrequent and very small, and usually in a badly done web in a nook or cranny.

Have only seen a few BRs in 14 yrs, but I shake out any shoes/clothing first, esp the stuff in the garage that I use only occasionally, eg different outside shoes/rain stuff, et al.

Anecdotally, a good friend of ours that lived a bit lower down the mtn toward Laurel Ridge CC was bitten by a BR a few years ago and never fully recovered from it. Other complications and declining health led to her demise.

I wouldn't wring hands about spiders, or other insects or snakes: be aware, be careful and be lucky, as the serious critters in western NC are few, and simply defensive.
GL, mD