I have finally seen my first live snake in the wild. I have questions. First, how many snakes are there living underneath our home.
And second, can anybody identify this snake just for fun here? 1/2
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN Seems to be a western ground snake, native to the SW US and northern MX. Harmless to humans. Eats spiders, centipedes and other invertebrates.
@POOetryma @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN they need to ship some over there to Asia where the centipedes are as long as your forearm! Those would be some happy snakes. Lol
@Museek @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN I dunno. Sounds like those centipedes can give that snake a serious run for its money. 😳😬
@POOetryma @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN yes indeed! There’s one that is huge and there’s one with a red head that is venomous
Look up scolopendra sunspinipes and the Chinese red Head centipedes!
@Museek @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN Ma'am, you may rest 100% assured that I do not doubt your word. There are some scary-ass things in the jungle!
@POOetryma @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN I would share but for some reason I can’t post links in my mobile app and my storage is full so I can’t post a screenshot but yes..
Lol lots of scary things. Even in our pool we had poisonous frog make their home. Six foot long monitor lizards trying to get in through the gate.. lots of dangerous critters! And leeches.. lol and tigers..
@Museek @POOetryma SWEET, definitely would love to see your pics from my old country.
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN @POOetryma are you from Thailand? Most of them are in the attic but I think I have some digital pics around
@Museek @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN Well, we don't have monitor lizards or tigers here, thank goodness, but even here in the city, we have our fair share of hazardous wildlife - big spiders, raccoons, and coyotes, bobcats, foxes, and of course several venomous snakes
Pic 2: Mediterranean fishing spider, invasive, native to southern Europe. Grows to ~10 cm. Preys on whatever it can catch. Bite is painful, but not usually fatal to humans.
All pics mine.
@POOetryma @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN wonderful photos! Thank you for sharing! Cool
@Museek
😮 That red headed one is especially creepy.
@Calliegirl his snake looks pretty creepy, too.. luckily its harmless!
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN As for how many live under your home, likely probably only one or two. That may change in fall & winter when the cold sets in. If you see a snake you can't readily ID, stand still and it will eventually go on its way.
I see snakes once in awhile. Most are harmless, but I keep an eye out for the venomous ones.
1) Cottonmouth ☠
2) Copperhead ☠
3) Pine snake
4) Common water snake
All pics mine.
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN Cool from a safe distance. Not so cool when you're literally eyeball to eyeball with a cottonmouth or rattler at arm's length. Yes, that's happened to me. Not fun! Thankfully, I had sense enough to stand still for a minute.
Snakes only care about 3 things:
Can I fuck it?
Can I eat it?
Will it eat me?
If the answer to all 3 is 'no,' snakes want nothing to do with you.
P.S.:
Did you know that tail wiggling to warn predators occurs in many snakes other than rattlers?
🏳️🌈
@POOetryma @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN When I lived in the country we had a nest of corn snakes under the pole barn slab - they look like rattlers and make the sound of a rattle while shaking their tale. We don't have rattlers in this area .That pole barn in summer was literally moving when you opened the door - "Why'd it have to be snakes" came to mind when Id open it.
I used to live in a rural area with lots of snakes but mostly only saw garter and king snakes.
Once at a campground I saw a rattlesnake sunning himself on the road. I was worried he would get run over so I found a long stick and was tapping the ground near him trying to get him to move. Suddenly a car came and the snake ran off the road much faster than I thought they could move. At that point I realized how lucky I was that he didn't come after me. 😬
@Calliegirl @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN I'm glad to hear you survived the experience. 😃👍
Manu years ago, I was looking for fossils near our airport and had just picked up a section of barracuda jaw, with 4 teeth, encased in phosphate. I had my nose to the ground looking for more when I heard a rattling sound in front of me. I looked up to find myself at eyeball level with a pygmy rattler about 2-3 feet from my nose. I stood up, stood still, and he left after a few seconds. Close call!
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN lol I get it
When we lived in Thailand we would often hear a heavy thumb and slide in the ceilings and we had to have hooks to pull out cobras from behind the dryer… they apparently like the heat…
In a country where there are 80 varieties of venomous snakes and some that fly out of trees to catch birds mid flight, with one of them being called a 2 step snake because if it bites, you can take two steps & that’s it… you can imagine anxiety was high with small children and pets.
@Museek Cool though!
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN *thump! Not thumb lol
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN ground snake. I think a western version of the rat snakes we have? I don’t know for sure. I’m definitely not a snake expert.
@HannahRayJones thank you! You've confirmed it.
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN I use the Seek app to identify everything in nature. It’s a little annoying. Even to myself. I love knowing though!
@HannahRayJones I'll check it out, thanks Hannah Ray (pretty name!).
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN Possibly a "Western Groundsnake"? They usually don't get very big.
“Red touch black, good for Jack,
Red touch yellow, kill a fellow.”
mnemonic for identifying the venomous coral snake.
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN Couldn't tell you, but the bold coloring would make me nervous. In nature a bold bright color pattern is usually a "If you mess with me you'll be sorry" warning.
@SECRET_ASIAN_MAN i like sneks. they have their place and take care of a lot of pests. there’s one in particular i get happy whenever I see, the King Snake.
@peeppeepcircus @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN I grew up with a king snake named Fang cruising our house, we lived in the Santa Barbara foothills and they were everywhere :) Fang escaped the tank my brother's put him in and you'd wake up to him "snuggling" up , it was the 70s he'd pop up out of couch and my mom would play it off like that wasn't happening to make people think they were tripping!
@Tattoomonkey29 @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN
that is so funny. and cool. 😂
@peeppeepcircus @SECRET_ASIAN_MAN 😆 😎 She was both of those!
I mean this snake KNEW this hole.