Autumn and Tyler Maidlow live in Greenbrier. Autumn says they store their child's wagon inside the garage.
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I say yeah well Tennessee, but I've been here for over 7 years and have seen exactly one venomous snake, a copperhead about 3 feet long laying underneath a tree next to the house waiting for a fledgling to fall out of its nest.
On the other hand, when I was living in California and prowling around the brush in the Mother Lode, I either saw or heard more rattlesnakes than I can even begin to count.
How is this news worthy, snakes in the south are as common as pick up trucks... people's need for attention, SMH
ReplyDeleteJD
LIving in deep southern Illinois, it was not uncommon to encounter Timber Rattlers and Copperheads, although Copperheads seemed to be more prevalent.
ReplyDeleteRattled over a rattler.
ReplyDeleteAint no one taught them nothing?
In some areas of California Rattlers don't rattle anymore. They have developed the strategy as a defense against being stomped into dust by the feral pigs here.
DeleteLiving way back in the hills of West by God Virginia, I see snakes almost daily. I have seen a lot of people mistake juvenile black snakes for copperheads and sometimes even rattlesnakes. They’re not all black when they’re young and they’ll mimic poisonous snakes as a defense mechanism. There are a hell of a lot of copperheads, though. Haven’t run into a rattlesnake here since I was a kid. Having worked outside all my life, I have found most people identify all snake as spitting cobras. Not sure how other people deal with them, but if a poisonous snake is close to the house, I kill it, if it’s out in the woods, I’ll just avoid it. When I was younger, I’d try to move the bad guys away, but a couple of close calls changed my mind on that. Eod1sg Ret
ReplyDeleteWe've got a big ol' rat snake about 4 feet long that lives under out HVAC unit on the side of the house. Lisa swears it's a copperhead.
DeleteRat snake/copperhead, they all look the same to most women
DeleteJD
I have a lot of rat snakes and black snakes around my property. There is a big speckled king snake that lives under the house. Once when a black snake was moving through the back yard I saw ol' Speck come out from under the house and get it.
ReplyDeleteThere is a rattlesnake den across the road. They have a trail that runs along the edge of my property, moving north in the spring and south in the fall.
We have tons of rat snakes and a few speckled king snakes. I've caught 6, 4 ft to 6 ft rat snakes IN the the chicken shack this year (yeay, banner year). I bag them, then haul them 2 miles to the other side of the Buffalo river to let them look for rodentia. They only eat eggs at my place, though the 1st one I caught 8 years ago, a 6 footer, had a mouth full of feathers it was having trouble getting rid of. A 3 ft. Copperhead bit my 4 month old Malinois 3 months ago, me and my 3 dogs surprised it going down the driveway to get the mail. We didn't see it till puppy stepped on it. the dog jumped, danced around and split, I then spotted the snake. Didn't realize the dog got bit so I took a stick and flicked it into the Colosseum (big steep holler). Once the dog voiced it's displeasure with an OWEE foot, I yelled (200 yards) at the wife "snake bite! Call vet!" an we were off to the vet. $500, over night, anti venom and he's good as new, only now with sexy scar on his ankle.
DeleteLife in middle western Tennessee, wouldn't trade it for anything.
As much time as that asshole dog Jack spends prowling around in the brush and trees, I'm really surprised he hasn't been snakebit yet.
DeleteKnock on wood...
I don’t know about rat snakes, but a black snake can climb a tree or the side of your house like a doggone squirrel. People are always looking at the ground for them. Better look up, too. Eod1sg Ret
ReplyDeletecouple years ago i was walking thru the garage and a 4' black dropped from the trusses onto my shoulder. pretty sure i coulda won a dance contest. never did tell the old lady. so.ill.chuck
DeleteVirginia
ReplyDeleteHave seen several in the wild, but not recently. One was a three and a half foot Eastern Copperhead, leaning heavily into reddish, fat and healthy, crossing a road, I don't recall if male or female. Another was also Eastern Copperhead, three feet, male, moving fast over ground cover in the woods and also very healthy / well-fed looking. Always on the lookout. Waved a friend away from #2 as I saw it first and friend was about to walk into it. Was in a science club in HS and teacher adviser was into herpetology, we had a lot of snakes, including venomous, in class; the venomous ones were in a locked room behind the classroom. Imagine doing that in 2023. Anyway, I still have the motion- then pattern-recognition thing going.
I saw one venomous snake while I lived in TN. We were on the way to a boundary survey in Williamson County and the boss saw a Cane Brake rattler in the road and tried to avoid it. When we came to stop, the driver's side front tire had the snake pinned by the tail and it was maddened and striking repeatedly at the tire.
ReplyDeleteI saw a Copperhead in SE Ohio on a job site, caught it and used it to play with one of the truck drivers that had been talking trash to me. He stopped next me with a load and started on me again, and I acted like I was going to throw the thing into his lap. I've never seen anyone roll a window up so fast. The dozer operator almost fell off the dozer he was laughing so hard.