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Old 06-02-2009, 05:25 PM
 
Location: The Big D
14,862 posts, read 42,707,787 times
Reputation: 5787

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluescreen73 View Post
We live "near" (half a mile from) the lake and a flood control pond that feeds into Lake Lewisville. We've seen a crayfish snake, a copperhead, and a water moccasin in the 7 years we've lived in our neighborhood.
That is more the norm. I've only seen a few dead snakes near our house in the last 7 years. I mean a small handful and they were all dead in the road either in the neighborhood or the main road outside our neighborhood. Never one ON our property. That is why the copperhead freaked me out so much right IN our garage Before we lived here we lived a few blocks from the lake and in a new construction area and never saw one in the 5 years we lived there.

Even on our lakefront property I've only seen ONE "live" snake and it was a water moccasin back when we had a backwater spot which has now been filled in and a boat ramp there. That is in the 19 years that we have been there. That was in like the first 2 years as well and I did not even see it until my dog stopped and "pointed" and would not move and I looked over to see what it was. The water moccasin in the water I ran over and next to freaked me out because it was so big and I'd just seen the live copperhead that day in our garage. I immediately thought of the thread we had at that time and about died as I'd been one of the ones saying how UNcommon it is to see them. LOL!!!!

Hmm, so before Memorial Day Weekend I'd only seen about 1 live snake outside captivity in the last 19 years (the snakes at the zoo don't count and neither do the ones the snake guy from Oklahoma has that I've seen). That 1 day I saw TWO!
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Old 06-02-2009, 09:33 PM
 
2 posts, read 25,585 times
Reputation: 11
wow thank you for the response. i was initially just scared of the tornadoes but now i feel like i have to worry about snakes. "momof2dfw" do you live in frisco or in dallas? this is really changing my mind about moving.
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Old 06-02-2009, 09:41 PM
 
1,101 posts, read 4,316,043 times
Reputation: 1964
Seriously, tornadoes and snakes are no threat. You're much, much more likely to get hurt every time you get in your car (either here or in Philly). Not to mention the health risk of a good cheesesteak
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Old 06-02-2009, 09:46 PM
 
6,714 posts, read 13,918,711 times
Reputation: 5616
I got stung by a scorpion when I was about 12 years old. Somehow he had climbed under my covers and got me. I was somewhat surprised that there was very little pain. A yellow jacket sting is 20x times worst.
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Old 06-02-2009, 09:57 PM
 
Location: Aurora, CO
8,592 posts, read 14,769,610 times
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I double what Triumph said, especially about tornadoes. Your odds of being in a tornado, let alone seeing one, are pretty slim. They're micro events when compared to the grander scale.

You're talking about something that's typically not more than a couple hundred yards wide with a path usually under 20 miles. Sure they can do a buttload of damage but it's usually confined to a pretty small area.
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Old 06-03-2009, 10:03 AM
 
Location: The Big D
14,862 posts, read 42,707,787 times
Reputation: 5787
Quote:
Originally Posted by st74 View Post
wow thank you for the response. i was initially just scared of the tornadoes but now i feel like i have to worry about snakes. "momof2dfw" do you live in frisco or in dallas? this is really changing my mind about moving.

Remember, I'm over 40 and this is the first time I've seen THAT MANY snakes in a day or weeks time EVER! I usually do not even see one live one in a years time. I'd be lucky if I could count how many times I've seen a live snake in the "wild" in my entire life as it really is not that many and I've spent LOTS of time in "the country" and near and on lakes. I've also spent a week camping in Oklahoma on the largest underground rattlesnake den and only saw 1 baby one the entire time. So don't worry about the snakes. Just because I saw them I'm not scared to go out in the backyard or back out onto the lakes. I'm in Garland and our lakehouse is on Lake Tawakoni.

I've never seen a tornado in my life and I've lived here the entire time. Not worried about those either.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TriumphOfTheSprint View Post
Seriously, tornadoes and snakes are no threat. You're much, much more likely to get hurt every time you get in your car (either here or in Philly). Not to mention the health risk of a good cheesesteak
LOL!!!! I've never seen a tornado and that one week of snakes probably doubled the amount of live snakes I've seen in my lifetime.

The dining choices are what will kill ya

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grainraiser View Post
I got stung by a scorpion when I was about 12 years old. Somehow he had climbed under my covers and got me. I was somewhat surprised that there was very little pain. A yellow jacket sting is 20x times worst.
I saw a scorpion in my office out in Coppell YEARS AGO! More like DECADES ago back when it was NOTHING compared to what it is now.
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Old 08-05-2009, 09:58 PM
 
1 posts, read 8,959 times
Reputation: 10
I moved to Frisco 2 years ago (from MA) and was concerned about the snakes/scorpions/spiders, etc. mostly because I have 2 small children.

Here is my experience with these creatures:
Spiders - seen countless wolf spiders and jumping spiders, but as most of the preceeding comments have stated, these are GREAT spiders to have around as they eat the flies, mosquitos, etc. Don't get me wrong, I have been startled by the size of some of them, but prefer to catch/release them instead of killing them.

In early October '07, I happened upon a Black Widow. I was mowing my lawn and saw a shiny jet-black spider crawling on my back porch. I happened to have a facemask nearby and used it to cover the spider. When I lifted the mask up to see the bottom of the spider, there was the infamous red 'hourglass' shape on the abdomen. I took proper precautions in handling this spider and relocated it to an empty racquetball container so I could show my wife for identification purposes. As I told her the concerns over its bite, she asked me....no, make that begged me to eliminate it. I didn't want to initially, but because I have small children, figured it was best to prevent it from making another appearance in our yard. After thinking about it now, I regret I did not relocate it (i.e. wooded area, empty lot, etc.) or call a zoo to see if they needed another specimen.

As far as snakes go, I have only encountered about 4-5, all rat snakes. VERY GOOD to have....especially if you live in an area near fields/open terrain (like me). I can't tell you how many times mice make appearances during the winter.

Scorpions - I have not seen any, but heard from people and seen photos from neighbors on the other side of the development that have had a couple, but they are not very common from what I have heard.
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Old 08-05-2009, 10:49 PM
 
Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
3,039 posts, read 8,332,806 times
Reputation: 5667
Attached is a photo of a Western Cottonmouth I took out of my pond not long ago. Caught him just behind the head with a .22 at 60 feet away. That is after I almost stepped on it and it slithered into the pond. There was still 42" left of him when I measured it. That's a size 8 1/2 boot next to him. This year alone I've nailed over 20 in my neighbors pond, 5 in mine and 2 near the house. Add to that 2 copperheads and it has been a productive year. I hunt cottonmouth and copperhead!

So far I've been bit by brown recluse, black widow and my female pup who acts like a piranha when hungry . I don't touch rat snakes unless they won't leave the yard. I have dogs and a rat snake can kill its prey by constriction. Had to shoot one almost 7' long a few years ago. Have not had the displeasure of meeting a scorpion yet.

Keep your lawn mowed, cleared of junk and sprayed, do not reach in boxes or bags that have been sitting around before you look in them (brown recluse like to hide there), keep your garage clean and you won't have a problem at home. When you're out at the lake or park just be aware of your surroundings and the possibilities but don't get yourself all worked up about it.

Last edited by escanlan; 01-22-2020 at 07:49 PM..
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Old 08-05-2009, 11:17 PM
 
Location: Frisco, TX
80 posts, read 194,226 times
Reputation: 71
I've lived in Frisco all of one month and have seen TWO black widow spiders. The first was our first day in the house - it was in the garage; the second was on our patio just a few days ago. We've had the house treated, but they're still around. We plan to have the house treated again and on a regular basis. Hopefully, we won't be seeing them anymore.
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Old 08-06-2009, 08:17 AM
 
Location: Coppell
171 posts, read 543,953 times
Reputation: 84
Dang I wish I hadn't read this post..........now I've got the heebie jeebies!!

When we lived in Rowlett our house backed up to a pasture and creek. It was 3 years before we saw actual live snakes, that were rat snakes and we left alone. We had coyotes for sure, armadillos and once had a bobcat go through our (unfenced) back yard---that was pretty cool---don't mind the animals. Before that house I lived in another in Rowlett for over 20 years---never saw a snake, or any wild animals, or recluse/black widows only a few mice.

We live in Coppell now and the problem we're having a those nasty tree roaches. We do have our house sprayed quarterly---which is a necessity down here--and also during the quarter I happen to see something.

KMac15----kudos to your wife...I just don't think I could live with a person that would consider a catch & release program for the poisonous vermin around the house---LOL
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