We have this special relationship...I don't bother them and they don't bother me!







20140625_150308 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr
20140625_170511 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr
20140701_092750 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr
20150127_144251 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Okay, well maybe this little guy...


I find it much more rewarding to learn about the creatures around me than to kill them...unless I'm fixing' to eat it.

The variety of critters in my parts is amazing.

I like snakes and spiders better than bugs and rats, is all.

There are no snakes in Alaska. I like them. There are lots of spiders in Alaska. I hate them.

__________________
Why, I aughta.....

I already know about the local snakes, and I have no need to study them. Killing the poisonous ones is as natural as breathing to me. Can't imagine, not doing so.

The strangest way of killing one I saw was when I was about 10 years old. My uncle grabbed a large snake, several feet long, (I don’t know what kind as we were out in one of his fields) by the tail. He whipped it around in a circle like a whip and cracked it popping it’s head off. Very impressive to a ten year old. I would not believe it if I had not seen it.

Now my uncle was a farm boy from birth, and tough as nails. However, I expect it was a non-poisonous one as even he was probably not crazy enough to do that to a snake with fangs.

I prefer a shovel or shotgun myself.

Love snakes, hate spiders. Have you seen any Pythons and Anacondas in Florida? Heard lots were released into the wild because they grew too big.

A few years ago, I got hit by a Brown Recluse. Never even saw it. It was apparently in my wood lot and got me while I was splitting firewood.
So I try to avoid snakes and spiders.

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

Rattlesnakes around the house are toast.. I despise spiders. We get a few really big Black Widows here. I see quite a few rattlers back on my dry ground..they usually want to get away from me...and my gun

The Brown Recluse, that seemed limited to the deep southern regions, seems to have made it as far north as Maryland.

Spoke with a motel clerk last year still recovering from one's bite. She was not bashful in showing the portion of her thigh that was approaching her "nether regions". Very attractive thigh; except for the six inch diameter, loss of flesh, with a grey, pallid look.

Said it took almost a week to have any discomfort, beginning with an itch, that deteriorated to loss of flesh.

I have been wondering if they leave a web trail as they go into shoes, boots and other places.

__________________
wanna do right-- not right now

Rick A
What are the round furry looking shapes in the foreground, in the picture of the "ear wig' getting ready to meet it's untimely demise, by what appears to be a Black Widow ??

By the way,all the critters you took pictures of, unnerve me; but I can't quit looking ! What is the first snake ?

__________________
wanna do right-- not right now

Mike, that is the same way I feel about certain types of "herman-beans". When there ain't none, I like em just fine; when there are lots of em, I hate em.

__________________
wanna do right-- not right now

I kill snakes
Terminix the others
You do it your way !
Blessings

__________________
TEXAS, by GOD

Thanks, Rick A for the truly nice shots. Being a bit south of you means I get to see much the same and if I eliminated every creepy crawley I saw I would face an unending battle.

I restrict my efforts to the local exotic lizards, fairly easy shot with a pellet rifle. I like to give the native anoles, tree frogs and baby birds a half chance.

hey great pictures i get alot of scorpions down my way and there in the spider family and have a big stinger . when i lived on the ground floor i used to shake my shoes before putting them on every now and then one would pop out i know from painful experience

I like snakes, I really do. There are amazing animals, cursed to live w/o arms and legs. But if they cross my path, especially on my yard they are doomed.

We recently had an incident here that cost a Marine half a leg.

Friends speak about Marine's snake bite - KSWO, Lawton, OK- Wichita Falls, TX: News, Weather, Sports. ABC, 24/7, Telemundo -

__________________
Jorge

Apparently, Minnesota has a shortage of snakes. Our DNR in its infinite wisdom, modified a WMA from deer habitat to Timber Rattler sanctuary.
Sometimes you really wonder whose side the govt is on.

I spray my house, inside and outside for bugs; any poisonous snakes found on my property are either shot or else relocated miles away.

Any non-poisonous snakes found around my house are left alone, some that live nearby are: rainbow snakes, black racers, king snakes, and red rat snakes. They are all welcomed visitors as long as they stay outdoors.

__________________
"Life is short, hunt hard"

I don't like spiders and snakes
and that ain't what it takes,
To love me
like I wanna be loved by you.

Poisonous or not, if it has teeth it WILL bite...

__________________
NULLI SECUNDUS

I don't bother snakes - unless they are venomous. Then they get a death sentence!

Maybe even farther north - a couple of years ago my neighbor lady was bitten by a brown recluse (according to the DRs) and wound up in the hospital for a few days. This was in PA, middle of the state, on the western side.

Since I'm sure that wasn't enough, few more:

The smallest:


20140509_083115 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Biggest:

20131029_181959 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr


Weirdest:

20140613_100431 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Another...

20131011_144349 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

The round stuff is just the carpet close up. What appears to be a black widow is just a female house spider. I killed a juvenile a few days ago as it was too hard to tell. Oops. Those earwigs are all over in the summer. They get into the house at the regular rate of one every night.

Florida Brown. They are kinda pretty.

I don't mind them either. They can be fun to watch.




They don't always have it easy, either.


Thanks. My kid found a wood skorpion hanging out on our fence last summer. They aren't lethal but I'm sure it'd hurt! I tried to get a shot of it but it disappeared into the cracks.

This is just behind the house. It allows us to observe quite a lot of creatures.

20140225_152516 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

I'm allergic to bee stings. They get worse every time. The last time had my entire arm inflamed and irritated for weeks. Seeking out to destroy them would just put me in more peril...and would be completely futile. It would be ignorant to hate all species of bees. Instead I give them a healthy respect and plenty of space.

Snake identification 101:

Attached Images

voting-booth.jpg (10.6 KB, 45 views)

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

Aloha,

Any spider, roach or creepy crawlies WILL get spray painted by the Wife's

can of bug spray. And then mushed by the ever present Hawaiian rubber

slippa. I tell her Not to use the last as it does make a mess after she

gets thru womping it. She leaves the Clean up to me.

Once she found a BIG roach in the toaster, Yep, she Toasted it.

We had to get a New toaster because she Refused to use it, even After I

cleaned out the toasted roach.

I can just see her after we move to Texas.........

So what happens if you refuse to clean up the mess she made?

The most dangerous snake in Alaska is the snow snake. Not venomous but when hunting a warm place it will crawl up your nether region and freeze you to death.

My ex-girlfrind patti--her father was bit by a brown recluse when they still lived in Michegan--somewere around thirty-five -or so years ago. He was going through a field and never knew he got tagged. He waited two weeks before going o get seen and lost a largh hunk of calf on one leg.

Thankfully I never got bit by one-but almost got bit by one living in my apartment that im curently in.I had the lights off and was watching a dvd--and noticed my cat jumping around in the corner by the front door.I was wondering what she was playing with?turned on the lights and saw it was a brown recluse that she had greatly irritated.

I grabbed her away and reached for a wad of paper towels.I smashed it against where I thought the spider was but--it had moved so quick and got onto the wad of paper and I let it go in time as it tried biting. I then reached for a can of lysol,and sprayed the hell out of it. It curled into a ball-and it got made in to paste--by being hit a few times with the heel of one of my shoes. I HATE--brown recluses so they die immediately.I leave black widows alone as they dont bother me-unless its inside my apt. I leave all fly spiders alone inside or out.

Im glad to see a tarantula meets its demise--I dont like them either.I dont go out of my way to kill them--but one gets close enough--it dies. Ants on the other hand--die. I leave all snakes alone-so no probs there.

The Army had to deal with them in Germany too, (nudge, nudge. wink, wink).

Great Spider Pics...and Herps and Birds and Scorpions...all safe.

Just as a footnote: One of my sons is an organic farmer in Newfoundland. He actually encourages spiders to co-habitate his farm. They offer very effective pest control for the best possible price. I still hate 'em, though.

__________________
Why, I aughta.....

You know me well enough from other posts that I've faced a great many animals of all kinds between hunting, fishing and amateur biologist followed by 20 years as a professional biologist. But I'll let you in on a secret: I have dreadful arachnophobia!