Brown Recluse and Copperhead questions (Sevierville, Norris: apartment, house, neighborhood)

[F250Glock]

I know, I know, but moving from Upstate NY where the only snakes you see are the garden or corn variety, and the spiders are more often than not daddy long legs.....reading some of the stuff on the Interweb's about Brown Recluse and Copper Head snakes in the "south" gets a man's mind wandering


We are avid Kayak users, so I'm curious how likely it is we'll see some of the more venomous snakes near Lake Douglas. As for the spiders, my grandmother was bitten by one of those darn Brown Recluse spider's in Cary, NC at her apartment.....just want to know how common they are.

Last question about the creepy crawlies I swear....is my 11 year old indoor / outdoor cat likely to be in danger. We'll be living in a new neighborhood outside Sevierville on 2.5 acres. Hate to have to explain to the kiddo's that he got in a fight and lost with a copper head or water moccasin. (He's been known to kill garter snakes and bring them into the house as "trophies"

Thanks!

[rainroosty]

There aren't any corn snakes in New York.

[hiknapster]

Brown recluse are suppose to be common. In seven years, I have yet to see one but maybe I've been lucky.

Regarding snakes, I saw more of them when I lived in the northeast. Even after living in Florida for 10 years, I saw more in the northeast. Since I've lived here I have seen exactly one. He (or she!) was some sort of non-descript snake that was more afraid of me than I was of him. Speaking of which...all snakes will try to avoid you if they can. They once did a survey of all the national park rangers and they said the most common snake bite is on the hands. That's because people try to mess with them. I once walked right into the path of a water moccasin in Florida. That poor snake was terrified of me and ran away despite all the stories that people tell about them.

Regarding snakes...long after man has wiped itself off of this earth there will be two things standing, cockroaches and cats. I wouldn't worry about them.

[F250Glock]

Thanks Hiknapster! Putting my mind at ease for sure.

[StarfishTwo]

Having lived in East Tennessee on and off for a total of 41 years, I have never seen a Brown Recluse spider. But they do exist, so my advice to you if you are worried about them is never to leave your clothes on the floor and then put them on, and shake out your shoes as well.

I have only seen copperheads and rattlesnakes in the Great Smoky Mountains, although it's my understanding that copperheads can be found in other areas. Perhaps someone who actually lives in Sevierville will be able to advise how common poisonous snakes are in that area.

I hear very little about any venomous creatures around here, and I believe it will be the non-venomous creepy-crawlies that will take the most getting used to. East Tennessee is *buggy* during the summer compared to many other parts of the country, and they are noisy. Summer nights in particular can be spectacularly noisy with cicadas and, if you live near water, little peeper frogs. I personally LOVE the nighttime cacaphony ~ it is the sound of home ~ but I'm sure it can take some getting used to. Several summers ago, a recent New York transplant came to me asking what was that horrible noise. After I listened carefully and heard no "noise", horrible or otherwise, there followed a rather lengthy exchange in which I insisted I heard no noise, other than perhaps the traffic sounds from a nearby road, and he kept repeating, "How can you not hear that noise?" After several minutes, it dawned on me that he was referring to the cicadas, and I was able to explain to him that it was simply the sound of an East Tennessee summer night. It won't take long at all before it stops being noise to your ears, and becomes the sound of summer.

[bbkaren]

Granted we haven't lived in TN full time, but we've been down for a month or two at a time for the last year or so. Haven't seen any brown recluse nor copperheads, but we've seen two scorpions and three black widows...which is plenty for me, thank you very much!

That said, we're still moving down and will just keep our eyes open; very few folks die from black widow bites these days and the scorpion (I'm told) is like a beesting.

The cowkillers, on the other hand - I hear they won't kill ya but you might wish they did!

[hiknapster]

Poor Phyllis from Jersey!

She use to be on the forum and she was decidedly a "city" gal. She once asked us if the cows were safe. She moved out to the country - I think it was the New Market area - and she use to take a daily walk where she swore the cows were following her. We use to tease and she was great about taking it the right way.

[bbkaren]

I remember, wasn't there a whole thread about scary cows? It was hilarious!

[StarfishTwo]

bbkaren, I'm shocked, as I had never heard of scorpions around here!

I can, however, attest to very powerful sting of a cowkiller. Got stung by one while on a boat on Norris Lake ~ it flew into my hair and I thought it was just a leaf and reached to pluck it out and got stung. Never saw the critter itself, but the stinger it left behind in my thumb was the size of a rose thorn! The pain was horrific and as the hours went by, I could feel the poison traveling up my arm, bit by bit. At one point, considered going to the ER, as I became concerned what would happen when the poison got to my heart. Luckily, it started wearing off about the time it reached my shoulder. After recovering I began to research what sort of critter it could have been, and discovered with a stinger that large and a sting so painful, it could only have been a cowkiller. Finally found some life-size pictures and about fainted ~ those critters are huge!

Before we go scaring the OP into selling his Sevierville property and running for the flat land, I should report that cowkillers are considered very non-aggressive. Most stings occur when...wait for it...cowkillers fly into someone's hair.

[Pam& Bill]

In the 7 years I've been living in the south, I've seen one Black Widow(Burnsville, NC) never have come across a Brown recluse, but I do shake things out before I put them on, just in case. As for snakes, haven't seen any at all. I saw more in upstate NY growing up then I do here.
Pam