Snake ID

[John Turney]

We have black widows out here. The real tell-tale is the red hourglass on the underside. Not wanting to turn one over, any black shiny spider is not welcome around here.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

I have a sister-in-law who was bitten by a Brown Recluse. The tissue around the bite died and she experienced a very long recovery for the wound to heal.

Though I have looked at pictures of Brown Recluse spiders I doubt I would ever be able to identify one when/if pressed to do so. I'd probably confuse it with some benign species and end up getting bitten.

Brown recluse spiders are easy to spot. Most of them are small; legs are long and spindly, and there's a definite fiddle-shaped marking on their backs that you can't miss. Sometimes known as fiddleback spiders.

 

[AngliaGT]

 

[Basil]

EXCEPT for brown recluse spiders! Those guys serve no purpose other than to cause serious injury. At our house in Clarksville, I was awakened one night by a sensation on my forehead. Brushed my hand across, and turned on the light. There on the bed was a brown recluse. Luckily, was not bitten. Turns out our house was rife with them!

Well you just squashed any concerns you may have had that one day I'd show up at your house and want to spend the night! No sir, you won't ever have to worry about that!

 

[Basil]

Brown recluse spiders are easy to spot. Most of them are small; legs are long and spindly, and there's a definite fiddle-shaped marking on their backs that you can't miss. Sometimes known as fiddleback spiders.

View attachment 48832

Knock on wood - I've never seen any BRs around my home, but do have lots of Black Widows. However, when my oldest son was still in High School, he went down to Hobb, NM to attend a CAP Glider camp. Se decided to drive down in the Camper van we used to have and spend a couple days at a campground that was across from the airport where the cadets were staying/ flying.
Anyway, the restrooms they had at this camp ground in Hobbs, NM was crawling with this things! (Brown Recluse). Can you imagine...never mind.

 

[catfood]

Come on guys, you're putting me off wanting to visit the USA again!

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Come on guys, you're putting me off wanting to visit the USA again!

C'mon, Steve - we're not in that house any more. All we have here (so far) are corn snakes, black snakes (actually good, as they handle the copperheads), and black bears. With an occasional scorpion or two (found a perished one in the garage last week).

 

[dklawson]

You have scorpions? I didn't realize they were this far east !

Steve, I understand your feelings. I share a similar angst about visiting Australia. It's a place I want to tour but it seems to be filled with extremely deadly creatures.

 

[catfood]

All we have here (so far) are corn snakes, black snakes (actually good, as they handle the copperheads), and black bears. With an occasional scorpion or two (found a perished one in the garage last week)

Thanks Mickey, That makes me feel so much better!

 

[Basil]

You have scorpions? I didn't realize they were this far east !

Steve, I understand your feelings. I share a similar angst about visiting Australia. It's a place I want to tour but it seems to be filled with extremely deadly creatures.

I think Australia has more critters that can kill you than any place else on Earth!

 

[catfood]

I think the nearest I got to an unpleasent encounter was when we were kayaking in the everglades I had a caterpiller of what looked like one of these fall on me

https://idtools.org/id/palms/sap/factsheet.php?name=Io+Moth

Luckily I had the sense to ask our guide what it was before I tried to brush it off. And I was worried about the alligators....

 

[Basil]

We've had the occasional Desert Centipede show up in our house: https://www.desertusa.com/insects/centipedes.html

These suckers are HARD to kill!

 

[pdplot]

Snakes, centipedes...all examples of biodiversity, long gone here in SW CT. I used to catch and keep garter snakes as pets when I was a kid, turning them loose after a few weeks. There were box turtles, wood and leopard frogs, blacksnakes, ring-neck snakes, hog-nosed snakes and many other reptiles - all extirpated and gone today, along with many migratory birds. All we have now are gazillions of deer and chipmunks, overrunning the place, eating everything in sight, giving people Lyme Disease (I've had twice), erlichiosis (I've had once) and babesiosis. And the a-holes around here, PETA members all, won't allow hunting or culling the deer, a position even favored and advanced by the Audubon Society in an attempt to bring back several ground-nesting birds such as the ovenbird, now gone from our woods but still found upstate where the deer are less. We are destroying our environment, making every place like Disneyland. Count your lucky stars if you still have reptiles, amphibians and migratory birds in your area. End of rant.

 

[dklawson]

We've had the occasional Desert Centipede show up in our house: https://www.desertusa.com/insects/centipedes.html

These suckers are HARD to kill!

Perhaps ironically... when I clicked on the centipede link above, a Cabelas add for hunting rifles appeared at the bottom of the screen.

 

[GTP1960]

All we have now are gazillions of deer and chipmunks, overrunning the place, eating everything in sight,

PD I happened to read this fertilizer's (offered by Tractor supply)reviews today & thought about your deer problem


https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/milorganite-organic-nitrogen-fertilizer-36-lb?cm_vc=-10005

(Have no idea if it really works)

[FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]"Helps with deer
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]Although the company cannot advertise this as a deer deterrent it will keep the deer away. I just throw it on my vegetable and flower gardens about every 3 weeks - not too thick."

 

[AngliaGT]

Now that she lost her job,the Wife's talking about
moving to VA,NC,SC,or Tenn.
Should I show her this,to change her mind?

 

[GTP1960]

There are so many weird spiders, snakes sea creatures & wildlife in general out there......it's surprising Hollywood can even remotely shock us with their play-like aliens.

 

[pdplot]

More good news. I forgot to mention the (near) death of the lobster harvesting in Long Island Sound due to (shhh) warming water.- although the lobster fishermen claim it's pesticides used to spray for West Nile mosquitos. And we're seeing more southern fish like Triggerfish, Summer Flounder and Black Sea Bass moving into the Sound and replacing such traditional species as Winter Flounder, Tomcod, and Atlantic mackerel. We are also seeing southern birds here in CT like Cardinals, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and Mockingbirds, now very common, and even Black Vultures, never seen here before. Does any notice any changes in their area in recent years? Florida seems constant, but why shouldn't it?

 

[GTP1960]

Does any notice any changes in their area in recent years? Florida seems constant, but why shouldn't it?

the most obvious interlopers in the mid SE are the coyotes & armadillos.
though of course, the fire ants seem to be remarkably successful ( to the detriment of all other ants) wherever they decide to go.

 

[NutmegCT]

hmmm - seems we're getting warmer, eh?

Back in the 1830s, New England usually got many heavy snowfalls from October through April. Nowadays, maybe only one or two per winter.

Critters don't own property - so they keep expanding to wherever they can live. Used to be, they'd freeze when moving north. Today - they just put on thicker socks.

newly-arrived Yankees