Considering Tyler for our new home; how bad are the snakes? (Dallas: for sale, real estate)
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From pictures of homes for sale, etc. Tyler "looks" like the perfect place to retire to from northern VT. Real estate seems reasonably priced also. The ONLY thing stopping my husband and I is his fear of snakes, any snakes, any kind. What are the odds of walking out your front door and having a nasty snake on your walkway or dropping on your head out of a tree?
Thanks.
From pictures of homes for sale, etc. Tyler "looks" like the perfect place to retire to from northern VT. Real estate seems reasonably priced also. The ONLY thing stopping my husband and I is his fear of snakes, any snakes, any kind. What are the odds of walking out your front door and having a nasty snake on your walkway or dropping on your head out of a tree?
Thanks.
Not likely inside the city limits, by my 40 years experience. Have not seen one. Others have, but not very likely. I did not live any creeks. You may have water moccasins every so often. There are copper heads. But, if someone gets bitten, it will be a TV news item. Very rarely a fatal bite. Seeing of the event on TV was the last time I knew of anyone getting bitten. It does happen but oh, so rare.
I've only heard of them falling out of trees. I guess it can happen. I lived out in the country for 5 years and only saw one snake, not dangerous, but big.
Tyler looks a little sun and summer worn now. But we had some rain. Where owners did not water their yards they are pretty much brown. Tyler is not northern Vermont. Not that lush and green. Spring and early summer is beautiful. March thru early June. Depends on how much rain in summer. Have you visited Texas in the summer. Just make sure you are ready for the intense heat.
Overall I like it here very much. But at this time of the year, I've had it with the heat. Come for an extended visit first. Information on Tyler is a life long hobby of mine, yeah, I don't have a life, do I? lol
But email me directly with any and all questions. I have people do that often. Two in the last couple of months. If I don't know the answer to your questions I will try to find out or refer you. I try and usually succeed at not being so bias. Tyler is not utopia but does have a lot of pluses. Former real estate broker. Not active, no commission or referral to be made. Still an interest of mine. Best to you, Mark
Depends if you are in a more rural area or not. I live about 45 miles west of Tyler on 40 acres. We frequently see water snakes, cottonmouths, copperheads, and rat snakes. We have a large pond behind our house and another creek on the property. My ten year old son and I like to trap them using a bream (fish) trap. They swim in to eat the fish and get stuck in the trap. One year we trapped 20+ snakes. I've also had snakes fall or jump out of trees when I'm weedeating underneath them. Snakes are just a fact of life and something you have to deal with around here.
Note, worse case above, they try to attract snakes, very rural and water all about. I don't hear of this on the lakes developed around Tyler. Lake Tyler, Lake Palestine, especially in developed areas like parts of Lake Palestine, which has resort development, Silverleaf.
Thank you both for the information. My goal, escape the horrid winters. However, my husband freaks at a little garter snake, I kid you not. LOL. I think he'd die of a heart attack if he saw a big snake; I'm not fond of them either. They are definitely an issue considering we all like to be outside with the dogs etc. I'd worry all the time that my son would get bit by one. SMH.
Is there a state that doesn't have horrid winters that doesn't have all the snakes???
Thank you both for the information. My goal, escape the horrid winters. However, my husband freaks at a little garter snake, I kid you not. LOL. I think he'd die of a heart attack if he saw a big snake; I'm not fond of them either. They are definitely an issue considering we all like to be outside with the dogs etc. I'd worry all the time that my son would get bit by one. SMH.
Is there a state that doesn't have horrid winters that doesn't have all the snakes???
If it is warm or hot, probably not. Hey, a poet and I didn't know it.
Really, 200,000 plus people in the county, 100,000 plus outside of Tyler. Bites are rare. However, best of luck to you on whatever you do. Remember if you are out on land by yourself, no homes people nearby you're likely to have a snake or two ever now and then, actually, not so often.
Oh, just remembered you can buy snake repellent. I bought some after I had one snake, non poisonous, in 4 years, when I lived out by myself in a beautiful park like setting North of Tyler. Also, moth balls work well, I've heard. Tractor Supply sales repellent. Probably Lowe's, Home Depot others.
From pictures of homes for sale, etc. Tyler "looks" like the perfect place to retire to from northern VT. Real estate seems reasonably priced also. The ONLY thing stopping my husband and I is his fear of snakes, any snakes, any kind. What are the odds of walking out your front door and having a nasty snake on your walkway or dropping on your head out of a tree?
Thanks.
I've lived in the Tyler area for about twenty five years. Prior to that, we lived all over the place due to being a military family.
I love it here. LOVE IT. But I have to warn you, the summers are brutal. If you are really considering moving here, I would suggest you visit in about May...and then again in August. Fall and winter are gorgeous here - and actually so is spring, but summer...ugh.
That's what God made air conditioning and sprinkler systems for though!
Anyway, back to the snakes. As I said, I have lived here for about twenty five years, and I can count all the snakes I've seen in the wild on one hand...probably with fingers left over. And we lived in the country for about five years and live across the street from a creek now.
I've actually seen two snakes in my yard just in the past year but both of them were tiny. I actually thought they were earthworms at first, they were so small. I looked them up and they are a harmless sort of grass snake.
I've never seen a large snake - I've only seen these small brown grass snakes. But I am not naive - I know that larger snakes are out there.
I did have a snake fall out of a grape arbor and right onto my head once - but that was not in Texas, it was in Georgia! SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF BOTH OF US.
Anyway, my bet is that any place with mild winters is going to have some sort of snake that lives in the area. Any warm place with water is going to have some sort of snake around. So if you're wanting to move farther south, I think you are going to have to put up with the very low chance that you may run across a snake at some point.
They don't like that any more than we do, by the way, and they much prefer to stay their distance or get out of the way as quickly as possible if they hear us coming.
Good luck. If you have any other questions about the Tyler area, which is a beautiful area with lots of gorgeous housing, just ask away!
Grew up in East Texas. Around water, you will find water moccasins. Rattlers are generally in more rocky areas, brushy areas. Copperheads pop up just about anywhere. My Bassett got bit one time by one, swole one side of his head up. A shot of antivenom, he was OK.
You will see king snakes, black snakes, rat snakes much more often, harmless and actually kill venomous snakes, rats, etc.
You just get used to them.
Look at like this. If you moved to Florida, not only would you have these, but pythons, boa constrictors, poisonous lizards and toads, 4-5' monitor lizards. And police in the Orlando area are currently looking for a king cobra.
Hello DC Fairwinds,
We've lived in Tyler almost 9 years, and I used to be scared of snakes. I'm better about it now because most of the snakes I've seen have been non-venomous beneficial snakes, and we live in the woods near Lake Palestine. My husband saw a cottonmouth near our neighbor's pond and he has seen copperheads in our private road, sunning themselves. I was told by a co-worker whose grandmother was an Indian from East Texas, that you need to watch out for snakes in October because that is when they move about to go to their hibernation spot. However, if you're not going to be able to relax and be happy due to fear of snakes, I'd suggest moving to Ireland.
If you live in a neighborhood where people mow their grass, and use weedeaters and leaf blowers, etc. you probably won't see any snakes - unless you get on your hands and knees and work in your flower beds. It is fairly common to have copperheads in flower beds. However, copperheads are not aggressive and will leave people alone. The last fatality in East Texas from a copperhead bite was maybe over 20 years ago? It was the sheriff in Madisonville, which is a 2 or 3 hour drive from Tyler. He went in his shed and and copperhead bit him on the leg. You can google this.
Copperheads are not supposed to be able to climb trees and I've never heard of a rattlesnake in a tree. However, ticks drop out of trees, but only if you're in the woods in the springtime. That usually is not a problem if you wear a wide-brimmed hat.
I work with public health doctors and researchers and I can tell you the greatest risks in East Texas are not snakes, bats, or even tick bites.
This biggest public health problems in East Texas are chronic diseases related to obesity and lack of exercise: diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.
Now, this is the public health threat that you should be aware of: auto accidents. The stretch of interstate, I - 20, from Dallas to Shreveport, is one of the deadliest highways in America. I believe one of the public health doctors told me it has the highest fatalities of any interstate in the US, but I've not confirmed that. That section of I 20 was poorly designed and does not drain well in the rain. The talk at our hospital is that anyone who works around the ER will not drive on I-20 in the rain. There is another deadly highway, and that is US 31 between Tyler and Kilgore. It has an extremely high rate of fatal head-on collisions. You should also be aware, in driving the scenic country roads, to stay clear of the trucks that are used for hauling timber (pine logs that have just been cut down.) They typically have bad brakes. There are specific highways to avoid for this reason - but they are in the country and can easily be avoided.
Another issue is asthma. There is a very high rate of asthma here because of pollen. East Texas has more forested land than Oregon. You might want to be tested for allergies to trees and mold before you move here.
Hello DC Fairwinds,
We've lived in Tyler almost 9 years, and I used to be scared of snakes. I'm better about it now because most of the snakes I've seen have been non-venomous beneficial snakes, and we live in the woods near Lake Palestine. My husband saw a cottonmouth near our neighbor's pond and he has seen copperheads in our private road, sunning themselves. I was told by a co-worker whose grandmother was an Indian from East Texas, that you need to watch out for snakes in October because that is when they move about to go to their hibernation spot. However, if you're not going to be able to relax and be happy due to fear of snakes, I'd suggest moving to Ireland.
If you live in a neighborhood where people mow their grass, and use weedeaters and leaf blowers, etc. you probably won't see any snakes - unless you get on your hands and knees and work in your flower beds. It is fairly common to have copperheads in flower beds. However, copperheads are not aggressive and will leave people alone. The last fatality in East Texas from a copperhead bite was maybe over 20 years ago? It was the sheriff in Madisonville, which is a 2 or 3 hour drive from Tyler. He went in his shed and and copperhead bit him on the leg. You can google this.
Copperheads are not supposed to be able to climb trees and I've never heard of a rattlesnake in a tree. However, ticks drop out of trees, but only if you're in the woods in the springtime. That usually is not a problem if you wear a wide-brimmed hat.
I work with public health doctors and researchers and I can tell you the greatest risks in East Texas are not snakes, bats, or even tick bites.
This biggest public health problems in East Texas are chronic diseases related to obesity and lack of exercise: diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.
Now, this is the public health threat that you should be aware of: auto accidents. The stretch of interstate, I - 20, from Dallas to Shreveport, is one of the deadliest highways in America. I believe one of the public health doctors told me it has the highest fatalities of any interstate in the US, but I've not confirmed that. That section of I 20 was poorly designed and does not drain well in the rain. The talk at our hospital is that anyone who works around the ER will not drive on I-20 in the rain. There is another deadly highway, and that is US 31 between Tyler and Kilgore. It has an extremely high rate of fatal head-on collisions. You should also be aware, in driving the scenic country roads, to stay clear of the trucks that are used for hauling timber (pine logs that have just been cut down.) They typically have bad brakes. There are specific highways to avoid for this reason - but they are in the country and can easily be avoided.
Another issue is asthma. There is a very high rate of asthma here because of pollen. East Texas has more forested land than Oregon. You might want to be tested for allergies to trees and mold before you move here.
Gee, let's not encourage anyone to move here. Sounds really horrible. I think I will leave after my 69 years here.
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