UGH!!! Snake!!!!!!
While walking the dogs back towards the creek this afternoon, I saw a big snake. Really big. Maybe huge, even. It was piled on itself, lying on a fallen tree that forms a natural bridge over our "swimmin' hole". I totally freaked out, and it slid into the water before I could photograph it. Truth be told, it blended in with the tree so well, that I doubt from the distance I was standing, you could see it in an iPhone picture anyway. Trying to remember what it looked like, I came home and did a google search, only to find its either a Brown Water Snake, or a Cottonmouth Water Moccasin. I'm completely freaked out, and never want to let the dogs in the back yard again. Do you think they sell Mongooses (Mongeese?) in Georgia??? |
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They eat lots of nasty rodents...but I still am glad MN is not a home of poisonous snakes....  Maybe it's payback for having real winters...  |
got sheep wrote: They eat lots of nasty rodents...but I still am glad MN is not a home of poisonous snakes.... That would seriously scare me!  Maybe it's our payback for having real winters... |
| Lovely. I'd never leave the house! DH spent his childhood shooting water mocs along the Concho river in west Texas. Probably why he was such a good shot....early childhood training. |
If its a Brown Water Snake- fine. It'll bite, but its not poisonous and it would rather flee than fight. But if its a Cottonmouth? I read that they are very poisonous, and will just as soon pursue you to get you as it will decide to go hide. We have lots of little garden snakes that I'm okay with-- anything that will keep the bugs and critters from my veggies? GREAT. But something that might bite me dogs.... forget it. Maybe I can burn down the woods.  |
SheepieBoss wrote: Lovely. I'd never leave the house! DH spent his childhood shooting water mocs along the Concho river in west Texas. Probably why he was such a good shot....early childhood training. Can DH come to my house please? Adam offered to go shoot it, and I nicely didn't laugh at him. In the 10 years we've been together, he's not used his gun. I doubt he'd come close. |
| ICK-- Hope it was the Brown water snake--water moccasins truly scare me! When I was a little girl we lived in North Carolina and kept finding water moccasins around our house--one night we had one in the house--my father chased it around the house with a golf club until he finally killed it. We moved two days later as my Mom would not let us out of her sight even to sleep after that. Turns out there was a nest of them under our patio with about 200 living there! I still get the shivers when I think of that! |
| Like Dawn said, another benefit of living up north. I'll take a little (or even a lot of) snow anyday before poisonous animals/insects/etc. |
| allison, fwiw from wikipedia In Georgia it is found in the southern half of the state up to a few kilometers north of the fall line with few exceptions. The aggressiveness of these snakes has been greatly exaggerated. In tests designed to measure the various behavioral responses by wild specimens to encounters with people, 23 of 45 (51%) tried to escape while 28 of 36 (78%) resorted to threat displays and other defensive tactics. Only when they were picked up with a mechanical hand were they likely to bite.[15] When sufficiently stressed or threatened, this species engages in a characteristic threat display that includes vibrating its tail and throwing its head back with its mouth open to display the startling white interior,[10] often making a loud hiss while the neck and front part of the body are pulled into an S-shape position.[16] Many of its common names, including "Cottonmouth" and "gapper", refer to this behavior, while its habit of snapping its jaws shut when anything touches its mouth has earned it the name "trap-jaw" in some areas.[17] Other defensive responses can include flattening the body[16] and emitting a strong, pungent secretion from the anal glands located at the base of the tail.[5] This musk may be ejected in thin jets if the snake is sufficiently agitated or restrained. The smell has been likened to that of a billy goat, as well as to a genus of common flood plain weeds, Pluchea, that also have a penetrating odor.[8] Harmless watersnakes of the genus Nerodia are often mistaken for it. These are also semiaquatic, thick-bodied snakes with large heads that can be aggressive when provoked,[5] but they behave differently. For example, watersnakes usually flee quickly into the water, while A. piscivorus often stands its ground with its threat display. In addition, watersnakes do not vibrate their tails when excited.[18] A. piscivorus usually holds its head at an angle of about 45° when swimming or crawling.[5] Brown (1973) considered their heavy muscular bodies to be a striking characteristic, stating that this made it difficult to hold them for venom extraction owing to their strength.[19] This species may be active during the day as well as at night. However, on bright, sunny days they are usually found coiled or stretched out somewhere in the shade. In the morning and on cool days they can often be seen basking in the sunlight. At night, however, they are at their most active, when they are usually found swimming or crawling.[5] Contrary to popular belief, they are capable of biting while underwater.[10] In the north, they hibernate during the winter months. Niell (1947, 1948) made observations in Georgia and noted that they were one of the last species to seek shelter, often being found active until the first heavy frosts. At this point they moved to higher ground and could be found in rotting pine stumps by tearing away the bark. These snakes could be quite active upon discovery and would then attempt burrow more deeply into the soft wood or escape to the nearest water. In southeastern Virginia, Wood (1954) reported seeing migratory behavior in late October and early November. During a period of three or four days, as many as 50 individuals could be seen swimming across Back Bay from the bayside swamps of the barrier islands to the mainland. He suggested that this might have something to do with hibernating habits. In the southern parts of its range, hibernation may be short or omitted altogether.[8] |
 We have a snake that was living in the pool filter(non working) It suns on the outside and is huge...to me anyway! Marty assures me it is non poisonous but, I don't like it!!!! Good Luck with your slivery friend  |
| Not a fan of reptiles. (shiver.....) In northern Illinois, we have many snakes, water and otherwise, but only one, rare, venomous one, the eastern massasauga rattler. Southern Illinois has copperheads, cottonmouths, and timber rattlesnakes, but the lower half of the state tends to be warmer than us folks here on the Wisconsin border. I guess there is an upside to freezing our booties off in the winter! Laurie and Oscar |
got sheep wrote: They eat lots of nasty rodents...but I still am glad MN is not a home of poisonous snakes.... Maybe it's payback for having real winters... Actually, two varieties of rattlesnake live in Minnesota (timber rattler and black rattler). Both are poisonous. |
| OK, I should clarify - they are not in MY range! The timbers are just barely in range into the south east corner of MN (your area , thankfully not mine  )Black rattlesnake was not listed as in MN anywhere I searched. It is listed as more in the desert southwest: Common names: Arizona black rattlesnake, black rattlesnake, black diamond rattlesnake, brown rattlesnake, Cerberus rattlesnake, mountain diamond-back.[3] [edit] Geographic range Found in the United States, in Arizona from the Hualapai Mountains and Cottonwood Cliffs in the northwest of the state, southeast to the Santa Catalina, Rincon, Pinaleno and Blue Mountains. Also found at Steeple Rock, in extreme western New Mexico.[5] The type locality given is "San Francisco Mountains" (Coconino County, Arizona, USA).[1] . I've lived here my entire life (MN) and never seen or had anyone I know encounter any. And we are very outdoor people, from childhood on to grandparenthood! |
| Yes, I get all of the pretty bluffs, the Mississippi river AND rattlesnakes, although I have (thankfully) never encountered one. A friend's husband works for the DNR and he sometimes has to catch them and take them to new homes. I tried to locate info on the DNR website but it's down because the state is down. So I had to settle for wiki: Here's wiki: List of snakes native to MN, with the rattlers at the bottom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_re ... ota#Snakes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistrurus_catenatus. If you click on the map on the lower right, it definitely shows my part of MN as habitat. |
| We have some in southwestern WI too, especially around the bluffs. |
| I feel for you. On June 27th, I found a snake skin in the backyard at the lakehouse, near the retaining wall. It was 3 feet long, a beautiful specimen if you like that sore of thing. Unfortunately, it appeared to have a rattle. On Wednesday, I found a 4+ foot long snake skin closer to the house. No rattle this time. In the evening, I turn on all of the outside lights, wait a few minutes and take the dogs out on their leashes. |
Yikes, this is a scary thread. When I was growing up, we lived and played near a creek. On occasion, we had copperheads in our yard. Our dogs always spotted them. My Dad cut their heads off with a mattox(?), and that's how I still like them today.  |
| eek as a brit i'm actually more freaked out by the amount of people that have a gun than the idea of the snake lol. |
| ema, they're just leftovers from the revolution. |
lol, i like it  |
| funny thing about the gun? I've NEVER seen Adam shoot it. I doubt he could hit something as small as even a large snake! |
| Haha..poor Adam. I forget other countries don't have guns....our exchange students never really commented until we had a boy exchange student. Manu was so impressed - a gun case full! He thought it was the coolest thing to be able to have your own gun, go hunting, do target shooting, etc. as you please. |
| My husband and I both grew up in non-hunting families. Though I did have an uncle who collected guns, including machine gun. Two of my best friends have concealed gun permits. the laws on guns are interesting. |
| Snakes Ewwww...Im soo glad that we don't have anything venomous. We have enough to worry about with coyotes, bears, cougars, bobcats, elk, deer, mountain goats and whatever else can and does kill people in this area. The woods is literally right behind everyones house, even in the city (small town). Mom of 3 wrote: My husband and I both grew up in non-hunting families. Though I did have an uncle who collected guns, including machine gun. Two of my best friends have concealed gun permits. the laws on guns are interesting. I forget sometimes that I live in a state that has some of the most laxed gun laws, everyone I know (almost) owns a gun or three and has their concealed. |
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