So, did I tell you what I found in the garage last night?

[Moogie]

I was shuffling some things around in the garage last night, and I heard some rustling under the workbench (we have a really long one that runs the length of one side). I looked under it and saw what I "thought" was the tail of the rodent. Being the brave soul that I am (NOT!) I went inside and told my husband that there was some type of "creature" in the garage. Heh, oh yeah. When he moved the container out from under the bench, it wasn't a rodent, but a snake. It was black. Out here, if the Animal Control folks are closed, they patch you into the police department. We didn't know if it was poisonous or not, so we didn't attempt to catch/maim/or otherwise end its life.

When the police got here, they told us it was a moccasin (they are common in our area apparently). Lovely. Well, now we have had an alligator in our back yard (well, in back of the fence but close enough-there is a pond behind our house), and a snake in our garage. I am working on becoming countrified in the condensed version.

Yes, that is a plunger in a grocery bag sitting next to it. Hard to get a picture of it..the lighting wasn't all that great. :cower:


http://personalpages.tds.net/~wgerlach/images/snake1.jpg

http://personalpages.tds.net/~wgerlach/images/snake2.jpg

http://personalpages.tds.net/~wgerlach/images/snake3.jpg

[Bok]

Oh yeah, welcome to the south east...

we had a family of Black Widows in our garage last year. And I've had a few run ins with snakes in the local parks as well as the back yard recently...

Considering that I come from a place where, not withstanding the Loch Ness Monster :p, the most dangerous animal you may come across in the whole country is an adder (snake) which would have a job killing a cat, it's a stark bite on reality :)

Bok

[FoBoT]

holy crap

glad you didn't get bit

[magnav0x]

water moccasin's are in just about every creek, pond, and lake here in Texas. They are not to be reckoned with. Highly poisonous...

[Moogie]

One thing we've been told since we've got here (it was even part of this "safety program" I had to go through when I first came on base), was to never approach a snake unless you knew what you were dealing with or how to deal with it. Hence, we followed the advice and called the Animal Control folks. It took a while to get the bugger out though, he was pretty mad. They say that they are normally very agressive, and will actually come after you. They ended up calling backup (the first car that came out only had one officer in it), and end the end, there were 3 squad cars in our driveway when all was said in done.

From what the neighbors say, there have been alot more sightings of them lately. We've had alot of rain followed by dry spells (apparently, that has something to do with it?)

Interesting stuff they have in the south. You need to be sure that you watch out for the deer crossing the road, pigs on the side of it, and on the base, it's not uncommon for cars to be stopped, waiting for a family of geese or ducks to cross the road.

[Paratima]

Welcome to the tropics! :D

Snakes aren't all bad. They eat rats & stuff. Just avoid the sharp end.

Years ago, I was on a canoe trip on the Ocklawaha, not too far from you. One morning, I was getting set to launch when I found two of those critters in my boat, one in each end. They were evicted politely, but firmly. Since then, I check for occupants VERY carefully before setting out.

There are reports of moccasins actually dropping into an occupied canoe! :eek: Now that might tend to dampen my enthusiasm for boating. At least, I'd hit my target heart rate in a hurry.:jester:

[PY 222]

Holy smokes... now this is probably something you won't find in your average garage.