Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Tennessee
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-30-2013, 06:02 AM
 
Location: Chattanooga, TN
3,045 posts, read 5,253,478 times
Reputation: 5156

Advertisements

Gotta love TN wildlife

I live in east TN, and this poster is great for identifying snakes:
http://www.tn.gov/twra/pdfs/snakesposter.pdf

West TN has a few different species than is shown on that poster, but most are covered. The vast majority of all TN snakes (both in terms of species and in terms of total population) are non-venomous.

Rattlers are fairly rare in west TN. While copperheads are common and account for the most snake bites in TN, they account for the fewest venomous snake-related deaths because their venom is so weak against humans. You still need to go to a hospital, though, because there could be complications. Water moccasin bites are extremely dangerous, and there are LOTS of them around water in west TN.

In my opinion, the cottonmouth picture on that picture isn't very good. In my experience (I'm from Mississippi, and grew up surrounded by them) they are usually more of a solid dark color than vividly splotchy, and they almost always curl up into a circle (head in the middle) as their strike position.

Just remember that all venomous snakes in TN are pit vipers. Their heads are triangular and MUCH wider than the body (all snakes' heads are wider than the body, but with a pit viper it's much wider), and they have vertical eye pupils. All you have to worry about identifying is 4 species (copperhead, cottonmouth, timber rattler, and pygmy rattler). Anything else is non-venomous.

Or, to be safe, you can do like my wife and identify all snakes as cotton-headed-water-rattlers and run screaming.

And here is a list of all venomous creatures in TN:
http://www.tn.gov/environment/tn_con...screatures.pdf

Welcome to the south!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-30-2013, 03:24 PM
 
137 posts, read 218,757 times
Reputation: 147
I know people dont like to hear this.. but sometimes those "pesky critters" are good for getting rid of insects around the house.

As long as theyre not destructive I have no problem sharing my space with them.

And yes, please dont squash them. Release them outside if you want them out.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-30-2013, 07:38 PM
 
Location: southwest TN
8,568 posts, read 18,129,324 times
Reputation: 16707
Our little resident salamander most likely didn't come into the house on its own. Hubby did catch the kitten bringing another one into the house. The dog probably would have brought her mole-toy into the house if she had a doggy door and the freedom to come and go on her own like the kitties have.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-30-2013, 07:40 PM
 
231 posts, read 596,225 times
Reputation: 195
Default Salamanders-I'mFreakingt out

Salamanders are harmless-just throw em out. Tennessee is overrun with all kinds of wildlife. Those who grew up in the boonies think nothing of it-you will be the same given a little time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-31-2013, 09:35 AM
 
36,606 posts, read 30,939,483 times
Reputation: 32937

Be glad it wasn't this critter. A guy at work killed in at his home. He killed a copperhead the day before and My sister shot a copperhead a couple days ago.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-31-2013, 09:43 AM
 
Location: On the plateau, TN
15,205 posts, read 12,083,133 times
Reputation: 10013
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2mares View Post
Be glad it wasn't this critter. A guy at work killed in at his home. He killed a copperhead the day before and My sister shot a copperhead a couple days ago.
Had a 3 footer couple of months ago.....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-31-2013, 09:57 AM
 
36,606 posts, read 30,939,483 times
Reputation: 32937
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bones View Post
Had a 3 footer couple of months ago.....
3 foot copperhead? Thats a good size one. Thankfully the only snakes I've encountered this year have been common garter snakes. I guess between the 7 cats and 4 dogs snakes stay hidden well or away from the house.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-31-2013, 10:20 AM
 
Location: On the plateau, TN
15,205 posts, read 12,083,133 times
Reputation: 10013
Yup, copperhead......under the boat when I turned it over to put into the lake.

Couple of black racers running around here....guess they missed the copperhead on their travels....

My cats go after the mice, lizards and moles....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-31-2013, 12:15 PM
 
36,606 posts, read 30,939,483 times
Reputation: 32937
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bones View Post
Yup, copperhead......under the boat when I turned it over to put into the lake.

Couple of black racers running around here....guess they missed the copperhead on their travels....

My cats go after the mice, lizards and moles....
I'm always a bit jumpy when I turn over the canoe. I've actually jumped a few feet in the air a couple times when I glimpsed the rope laying there.

My cats are spending more time at the barn so Im beginning to see my porch lizards coming back. I have been enjoying seeing all the dragonflies too.

Guess you have to take the "bad critters" with the good critters. I just hope I don't run into a bear.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-31-2013, 01:12 PM
 
Location: On the plateau, TN
15,205 posts, read 12,083,133 times
Reputation: 10013
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2mares View Post
I'm always a bit jumpy when I turn over the canoe. I've actually jumped a few feet in the air a couple times when I glimpsed the rope laying there.

My cats are spending more time at the barn so Im beginning to see my porch lizards coming back. I have been enjoying seeing all the dragonflies too.

Guess you have to take the "bad critters" with the good critters. I just hope I don't run into a bear.
Watch out for those "ropes" and "bares".....

Yes, I was expecting something under the boat....he was there all coiled up waiting....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2022 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Tennessee

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:04 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top