Topic: Not a gator, but...

[dannyw]

The kids and I rode up on a fat rattlesnake slowly crossing Sand Pine. Surprised me mostly because there was so much traffic out there today. The 7yo was leading the pack at the time; glad she stopped in time! Pictures don't do it justice, but it was as big around as my forearm and maybe 5' long.

[RKL]

I rolled over one about that size once not paying attention on a 2 track.  It's hard to peddle w/ your ankles above the bars...

[Itchiee]

I'm always on the lookout for such things... 

< Is that a root??? Well I guess I'll find out the hard way....thunk... ok, whats next?>

[Murf]

that thing looks like a gator tail, it's huge !!!!!!

[ClintonRH]

Having the bar in the shot makes him look smaller than he was. Grandpa isn't very narrow where this was taken last April.

Water Moccassins can be aggressive and will hold their ground when startled but at least they're unlikely to give you a venomous bite.

[Jonesy]

lloks like a good opportunity for a shovel

[Garry]

Having the bar in the shot makes him look smaller than he was. Grandpa isn't very narrow where this was taken last April.

Water Moccassins can be aggressive and will hold their ground when startled but at least they're unlikely to give you a venomous bite.

Never heard that they are unlikely to give a venomous bite.  It takes a very short time for poisonous snakes to fill their venom sacs once on guard or on the hunt.

[perchman]

Came up on a 5 foot rattler at Lake Rogers Park in Odessa on Friday.  About 3 months ago, the kids and I were walking at the same park and almost stepped right on a coral snake.  First one I've ever seen in the wild.  Pygmy rattlers are common in Flatwoods as well.

[ender.]

Came up on a 5 foot rattler at Lake Rogers Park in Odessa on Friday.  About 3 months ago, the kids and I were walking at the same park and almost stepped right on a coral snake.  First one I've ever seen in the wild.  Pygmy rattlers are common in Flatwoods as well.

I ran one over the other day in Flatwoods... couldn't have been more than a foot, I actually thought it was a root, until after I rolled over it and realized roots dont curl up lol

[ClintonRH]

Never heard that they are unlikely to give a venomous bite.  It takes a very short time for poisonous snakes to fill their venom sacs once on guard or on the hunt.

They're trying to be all scary. If they fang you they have a difficult time releasing you. That snake doesn't want to be stuck attached to something as big as a person who is now very angry at it.

Bites from the Cottonmouth are relatively frequent in the lower Mississippi River Valley and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, although fatalities are rare.[13] Allen and Swindell (1948) compiled a record of A. piscivorus bites in the state of Florida from newspaper accounts and data from the Bureau of Vital Statistics: 1934, 8 bites and 3 fatalities (no further fatalities were recorded after this year); 1935, 10; 1936, 16; 1937, 7; 1938, 6; 1939, 5; 1940, 3; 1941, 6; 1942, 3; 1943, 1; 1944, 3, 1998; 1. Wright and Wright (1957) report having encountered these snakes on countless occasions, often almost stepping on them, but never being bitten. In addition, they heard of no reports of any bites among 400 cypress cutters in the Okefenokee Swamp during the entire summer of 1921. These accounts indicate that the species is not particularly aggressive.[4]

This does not apply to rattlers. Diamondbacks will strike and then flee. Pygmy's are especially bad because they'll roll over and play dead. Never try to pick up a 'dead' pygmy rattler.

[RKL]

bottom line is most people get bit when they're messing with 'em. & while you might get lucky and not get envenomated - don't count on it.  I personally know somebody that was clinically dead from a rattle snake bite before she rejoined the living.   give 'em room and keep on rolling - that's the best advice.

[ClintonRH]

Definitely true. Would not deliberately mess with any of them. Closest I've ever come to getting fanged was a small coral snake that was under some dead fall that I picked up on a Croom workday when we were clearing ground for the bermed S-Curves that go up and down through the ditch in between Cherry Bomb Ridge and Rooty Hill. Did that option ever get a name?

[Slowjenfizz]

Definitely true. Would not deliberately mess with any of them. Closest I've ever come to getting fanged was a small coral snake that was under some dead fall that I picked up on a Croom workday when we were clearing ground for the bermed S-Curves that go up and down through the ditch in between Cherry Bomb Ridge and Rooty Hill. Did that option ever get a name?

You almost gave your life for a SWAMP workday?  Wow. 

[ClintonRH]

It was a little one. Less than a foot long. Probably wouldn't have pierced the glove leather if it had been inclined to strike. I dropped the log when I saw it and gave it some space. It promptly retreated into the leaf litter. Wasn't really a danger but it was certainly startling.

I'm pretty used to working in the woods. I always make a habit of kicking logs before stepping over them or attempting to move them. Honestly when working Florida I would worry more about scorpions and spiders than snakes.

The exception being the snake in the boat stories that seem pretty common. For some reason Water Snakes seem to like to sun bath on tree limbs then drop in to the water when startled. This sometimes ends with them dropping into the boat that startled them. Now I know rationally that water snakes are harmless and Moccassins don't typically climb trees but a water snake sure look like a moccassin at a glance. I'm glad I've never had to make a split second decision to identify the snake that just dropped into my boat and decide whether I might like to take a quick swim.

None of the locally occurring scorpions are actually dangerous but they sure can be painful. If you're working around Palmettos you can bet they're nearby (though hiding). Haven't seen them much in the Tampa area but they're all over the Miami area, especially as you go south towards the Keys. Take a UV lamp out at night and point it at some palm trees and you'll usually see a bunch of them within a few minutes.

I've had to clear Black Widows out of electrical junction boxes at work several times. They seem to like them a lot. Everyone I've seen has been in Polk county though. I'm sure they're all over but they seem to be more plentiful out that way.

[paul-h]

I came inches from running over a Pygmy Rattler at Flatwoods last summer. Their maximum length is ~24 inches and they don't get fat like the eastern diamondbacks. Makes you wonder how many we pass that we never see.