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Are you afraid of snakes?

#81
Simo98 said:
It's not the big ones you have to worry about ;)



Yeah, I never get the whole "Australia being filled with dangerous animals" thing. You can avoid pretty much anything deadly here by briskly walking the opposite direction. Heck, half the time all you have to do is not step on them.

I talk to friends from Canada etc. who talk about camping trips and having to bear-proof everything so you don't get eaten in the middle of the night. Sounds way more dangerous!
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See I really gotta debate this. A bear smells something like rotten fish crossed with a dump, in the sun, on a good day. They're big, mostly noisy and really hard to miss. Think of a drummer with fur. They do not, however, hunker down in the weeds and pop out with a mouth full of venom and try the 'gotcha' game. Tipans on the other hand seem to delight in the fact that they're quick, hotter then a nuke, and come equipped with camouflage and are for the most part absolutely silent.
 
#82
MatticusMania said:
Camping at the Kern River last summer a friend had to walk uphill to retrieve something from his car.
All of the sudden we hear him yell "HEY GUYS", and its followed by a light thunderous rumbling.
What, pray tell, should run by our camp? A small stampede of Bulls...
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Speaking of the Kern. I was at Hobo Camp a couple of years ago when a rattlesnake came sauntering through an open section of camp. Being the tree hugger I am, we shooed it off and thought nothing of it till it came slithering back to the same area about five minutes later. At this point, I should mention that the area was the very area we were going to sleep in...sans tent. Amazed, we shooed it off a second time and went back to drinking beers. About five minutes later, you guessed it, he came back. We shooed it off a third time and I grabbed a shovel, swearing to kill the son of a ***** if he returned. He never did...at least while we were awake! I slept very lightly that night. :eek:

I'm no stranger to rattlesnakes but this one kind of freaked me out. Most buzzworms will do anything to avoid humans but this guy willingly returned to an occupied area not once but twice! It was like he had nothing to lose or he was a teenage rattler and his friends dared him to do it.

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#83
Simo98 said:
...Yeah, I never get the whole "Australia being filled with dangerous animals" thing. You can avoid pretty much anything deadly here by briskly walking the opposite direction. Heck, half the time all you have to do is not step on them.

I talk to friends from Canada etc. who talk about camping trips and having to bear-proof everything so you don't get eaten in the middle of the night. Sounds way more dangerous!
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Yeah, unless you're a baby and there are dingos around! :p
 
#86
Nope. Reptiles are my favorites.
I've had rosy boas, rat snake, a few ball pythons...nothing huge cos i dont think the huge species should be kept.
that pic of the dead rattler is SAD....photoshop or not....snakes are vital predators


Phalex said:
Hog nosed vipers are hilarious to play with. They act all badass until you pick them up, then they roll over and play dead with their tongues lolling out. If you roll them back onto their bellies, they roll back onto their backs!
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hog nosed vipers? dude really? :p

please tell me your kidding. Hog Nosed snakes are harmless. I've handled them. Cute as hell. And yep they roll over & play dead and emit a stinky stink of death.
 
#87
Buslady7803 said:
hog nosed vipers? dude really? :p

please tell me your kidding. Hog Nosed snakes are harmless. I've handled them. Cute as hell. And yep they roll over & play dead and emit a stinky stink of death.
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Yeah, I guess they only think they're vipers. That's how I've always referred to them, but it does look like there is a nastier variety that has claim to the name.
 
#88
Snakes don't wig me out nearly as much as spiders. I've never had a nightmare about a snake bug I've had a few about spiders. Spiders are small, quiet, and their bites can lead to necrotizing fasciitis. Snakes are big and you can shoot 'em!

'Course some of them have bites that cause paralysis, respiratory failure, and death...so there's that.

OK. I concede. In snake vs spider, snake is...The Deadliest Warrior.
 
#89
Bloodhammer said:
Years ago on a job, I opened up the breaker box in some guy's boathouse and there was a gigantic wolf spider splayed across the breakers like a brown, furry hand. I then gently closed the door to the box, so the spider wouldn't get scared and would stay put. A few minutes later, the electrician (and helper) comes along so we can assess how we wanted to wire things and I pretend I haven't located the breaker box yet. Naturally, he tells his helper to go look for the box.

I almost couldn't contain myself.

The box was mounted to one of the rail posts - but at foot level, instead of face level. All of a sudden we hear, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" coming from the poor helper as he almost does a back flip from trying to stand up and move backward so quickly. People have told me that was really mean, but I didn't have that reaction when I saw the spider, so I still think it was hilarious. :D
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Yes. Pure evil. Had I been your assistant that breaker box would need considerably more repair.

Last time I saw a wolf spider that size was in the house, hanging out on the carpet. I tossed a piece of cardboard and 25lb weight on it and jumped on the weight. It was obliterated.

Spiders do it for me. Snakes I rather like. I feel like bears and sharks would be a quick enough death not to warrant attention.
 
#93
JimB52 said:
There are Black Rat Snakes in my area that are big enough to eat squirrels. A large one can be 8-9 feet long and thick as a baseball bat.

Here's a smaller male and large female outside my house two years ago, doing the Black Snake Moan.
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They are excellent climbers. Here's the male going up the side of the house.
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Second floor bedroom window
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My future exwife found this baby one in her bed. It woke her up. She wasn't amused.
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We've found shed skins 6+ feet long hanging from the garage rafters and once in the basement.


.
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You wouldnt consider sending me a couple of those would ya?
 
#94
6jase5 said:
I'm not personally afraid and was bitten before (not poisonous). I just stay away and I would never try to pick one up. My fear is that my daughter sees one and tries to say hello. That scares the "H -E double hockey sticks" out of me.

I occasionally watch the snake shows on TV and think "how stupid" not "how brave". Leave the darn things alone.
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This. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. And I live in hot Eastern NC. Snakes EVERYWHERE. Luckily, I have only seen a couple in my yard in the past few years since we moved here. But that really surprises me being that I live in a wooded neighborhood with woods behind all of our houses, a creek that runs through, a swamp less than a half mile away, and a pool in my yard. When we moved here, all the neighbors told us we would have at least one copperhead in the pool every year. But so far no such "luck".

I'm not all that afraid of them. But I respect them and give them some distance. I usually hike with some sort of staff that has come in handy for moving them out of the way on many occasions.
 
#95
mellowinman said:
I'm not afraid of snakes, but I happened to know she was, and even if I'm not afraid of them, I don't really put myself in a position to have them strike me, if I don't have to. And I'm sure you will agree, I didn't have to. I was the one wearing boots, and not tennis shoes, and I was the one who wasn't exposing myself to gaps in rocks.

And I was the one who was aware of his surroundings, while out in a beautiful, natural setting, that could easily turn deadly about a thousand different ways.
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I probably would have been the one with the girl on his shoulders all the way back to the car.
 
#96
Personally,I thinks snakes are amazing little critters. I currently only have two,a 10yr old Kenyan Sand Boa,and a baby Ball Python. Two of the best snake choices IMO.. I just donated a 9-10ft Colombian Red Tail Boa to Lake Superior State University for their reptile program as their main breeder,and as a 'bit of home' for my daughter as she'll be there for her 'general requirement' classes until transferring to M.S.U.

Kingsnakes and Milksnakes are also great choices..non-venomous,quite colorful,and they don't get too big to handle. Of those two,I've found domestic-bred Milksnakes to be the more docile.
 
#97
Around here we have tons of california king snakes, gopher snakes and yes rattlers. I can't resist picking up the kings. Beautiful and gentle.

I have had ball pythons and a red tailed boa. I loved the balls - the boa got a bit big and somewhat cantankerous.

I have always fancied corn snakes but, an eastern indigo is one I wouldn't mind having.
 
#99
I don't fear them, but definately respect them. If I see one, I'll leave it alone if possible. Like others here, spiders are more likely to give me the heebie jeebies than snakes. Even those I will try to leave alone if I can, but if they are in the house...out come the flip flops!
 

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