Possibly retiring to Tulsa area (Bartlesville, Nowata: sale, foreclosure, mortgage)

[okie1962]

What you really have to watch out for are "Snakenados". That is where a tornado comes over a pond it sucks up all the snakes and they land on your house your car or out of your yard. There have been many a folks rushed to The emergency room bitten by flying snakes! Once my grandma got bit by one of these flying snakes. Shortly afterwards there was some bleeding, swelling and dizziness and then the poor little snake died!

[Rubi3]

Originally Posted by okie1962

What you really have to watch out for are "Snakenados". That is where a tornado comes over a pond it sucks up all the snakes and they land on your house your car or out of your yard. There have been many a folks rushed to The emergency room bitten by flying snakes! Once my grandma got bit by one of these flying snakes. Shortly afterwards there was some bleeding, swelling and dizziness and then the poor little snake died!

Oh, okie!, your poor grandma and that even poorer flying snake. it's bad news for anyone to ever know about one of our best kept secrets. Of all the dire, horrific, fearsome dreadfulness once posted to Nice in Minnesota by the helpful, the information about the flying snakes remained under wraps.

[Joe from Wisconsin]

LOL okie1962. Actually, as far as snakes are concerned, I'm definitely in the "you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone" category. Was reading up on copperheads yesterday and one article mentioned that more people are bitten while trying to kill the darned things than anything else. I figure just leave 'em alone and they'll do the same...and I certainly do not overlook their (all venomous snakes) contribution to keeping pests under control. I remember as a young boy dad letting a huge corn snake, I believe it was, live in the machine shed on the farm to control rats. Us kids got one look at that thing and NEVER again went within 20 yards of that shed! I don't know, maybe it was really just a way to keep us kids under control, but either way it worked like a charm.lol

[okie1962]

Originally Posted by Joe from Wisconsin

LOL okie1962. Actually, as far as snakes are concerned, I'm definitely in the "you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone" category. Was reading up on copperheads yesterday and one article mentioned that more people are bitten while trying to kill the darned things than anything else. I figure just leave 'em alone and they'll do the same...and I certainly do not overlook their (all venomous snakes) contribution to keeping pests under control. I remember as a young boy dad letting a huge corn snake, I believe it was, live in the machine shed on the farm to control rats. Us kids got one look at that thing and NEVER again went within 20 yards of that shed! I don't know, maybe it was really just a way to keep us kids under control, but either way it worked like a charm.lol

I wouldn't worry too much about snakes here in Oklahoma if I were you. I haved fished and geocached all over Oklahoma, and seen a few snakes but nothing like some of he stories I have read on this thread. 2/3s of Okies are just as afraid of snakes as you are and if they were that bad not that many people would live here. I am not that afraid of them but my folks are terrified of them, and they are both county born and raised.

You will soon learn it is chiggers that are to be feared! They are horrible! They feel like a mosquito bite, but the itch is way deeper and itch for about 10 days. One time I was berry picking and got a bad case of them. I had bites all over my body. Bottom of the feet, between the toes, on the scalp, on my eye lids, in my ear canal, I had them everywhere! Our neighbors father who went with us had to go to the hospital he had them so bad!

So welcome to oklahoma! I hope you will love your new home!

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by okie1962

What you really have to watch out for are "Snakenados". That is where a tornado comes over a pond it sucks up all the snakes and they land on your house your car or out of your yard. There have been many a folks rushed to The emergency room bitten by flying snakes! Once my grandma got bit by one of these flying snakes. Shortly afterwards there was some bleeding, swelling and dizziness and then the poor little snake died!

Yeh, they're very common in these parts......kinda like that flying mooing cow in the absurdly accurate movie "Twister."

EDIT:
If a snake bit my ol' lady it would be dead lickity-split! She's got icey venom in her veins.

[okie1962]

What do you mean movie? "Twister" was a documentary.

[Bass&Catfish2008]

"I gotta go, we got cows."

For out-of-staters, this is exactly how it happens:


Twister-cows - YouTube

[okie1962]

Where is the lady riding a bicycle and the little dog?

[Joe from Wisconsin]

Tornadoes don't concern me too much, I was in one as a kid in Mo....took down the barn and silo, sucked the pond in the back 40 dry, left the house with NO damage that I remember. We had an underground "cellar" just out the back door that doubled as a root cellar. Was actually 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the ground...a big mound...I remember my mother and I holding onto the door for dear life. Have had two in Wausau in the 30 years I've lived here...one just north of town a mile, one south by three / four miles. North one tore up a cemetery real bad, small headstones were found as far as 2-3 miles away, south one tore up a new subdivision med-bad. No flying cows or other livestock...lol...couple three injuries in south one but no deaths...all homes here have basements...we're all taught to run to the basement and cower under the stairs or a heavy table or workbench or, at the least, to a southwest corner of the basement if nothing else. Saw one flying overhead in Milwaukee once as well as a waterspout close offshore on Lake Michigan. I'm sorta one of those wild weather junkies...I look forward to massive thunderstorms, huge blizzards and the like...bucket list includes a hurricane...lol.
I will say this however, I will build myself a storm shelter of some sort once I get there. I have an idea I think might work okay as well as being relatively cheap, but would appreciate some ideas from some of you DIYers out there. 1 man shelter with no amenities...just some place to cower if the ****e hits the fan. I was thinking....a bed of gravel a foot deep on top of the ground to keep rainwater out...buy one of those concrete sewer pipes, 3' I.D.x 8 feet long, and lay it horizontal on the gravel...cover with dirt and seed with grass to keep dirt in place...one end exposed to the east or northeast with a steel door. Priced out a pipe up here...just over $100.00 delivered, figure another C note for dirt and gravel, $50 for the door from welding shop...all set for $250-$300 bucks. Sound feasible? Only thing I'd be concerned about is keeping critters out...especially those that slither and have forked tongues!

[okie1962]

Just make sure your shelter closes up very tight. You don't want to open it up as a tornado is bearing down on you and see a couple of snakes in the bottom of it. All joking aside, Oklahoma does have a lot of snakes. And you need to be concerned about spiders too, places like that are frequent homes for black widows. And make sure you can open the door easly in case debris falls on it. You placing the opening to the east and northeast a good idea. It sounds like your shelter is going to have very small quarters I would hate to be trapped in there for long period of time and not be able to move at all.

For one man Shelter it really does seem like a good idea. The goal is to be out of the wind, and it's not really the wind that will kill you it's all the flying debris.