Question for Florida PetTalkers

[smokey the elder]

A lot of Burmese pythons escaped from a hatchery after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Some of the snakes are huge! They have no enemies other than man, so there's in effect an open season on them. Invasive apex predator: not great for the ecosystem.

[Catherinedana]

We have a resident black racer snake in our backyard that we named Snakie (original, hunh?). We see him go for his daily slither around the yard looking for lizards. Last year we saw him and Mrs Snakie do their mating dance which was very cool. I also found snake eggs in my friend's yard when I was helping her plant some things. One of them was dried up and torn open so that's how we knew they were snake eggs. I put the rest of them in a safe place and told her that I threw them away because she was petrified of them. I don't kill snakes. . .

We also found a nest of small snakes by our shed about 3 years ago. . .I forget what they are called but they don't get much larger than about 6 inches. They were beautiful.

Also saw a pygmy rattlesnake in my friend's house - he lived by the Hillsborough River and it got in somehow. We swept it into a paper bag and I took it to a deserted part of the river and let it go.

There was an orange rat snake living in a crevace above the track of the sliding door out to my patio in my first florida apartment and last year saved a glass lizard, which looks like a snake but it is actually a lizard with no legs, from being mauled by a stray cat in my yard.

Enjoy your Wild America!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

We also found a nest of small snakes by our shed about 3 years ago. . .I forget what they are called but they don't get much larger than about 6 inches. They were beautiful.

A ringneck snake, maybe? The get a bit longer than 6 inches, but they stay really small. I believe usually under a foot. We had one on our back porch last week.

[Catherinedana]

A ringneck snake, maybe? The get a bit longer than 6 inches, but they stay really small. I believe usually under a foot. We had one on our back porch last week.

Absolutely! I looked it up on the internet and found the attached pic. They were much smaller, however, and since there was a whole pile of them, I guessed they were a nest of babies. Never saw any again after that though.

One exciting thing I saw last year was a Cooper's Hawk in a tree in the yard next door with a snake and she was footing it and it would rear up to fight back and then she would foot it again. It was crazy!!!

[smokey the elder]

Aww, what a cute little snake! I wonder what they eat. Insects, maybe?

[BitsyNaceyDog]

One exciting thing I saw last year was a Cooper's Hawk in a tree in the yard next door with a snake and she was footing it and it would rear up to fight back and then she would foot it again. It was crazy!!!

That's awesome! We have a few red-shoulder hawks that come around often. I saw one footing a snake (didn't know it was called "footing" though) in my front yard.

Aww, what a cute little snake! I wonder what they eat. Insects, maybe?

I'm not sure what they eat. My guess would be small frogs and lizards. Maybe some insects too?

[prechrswife]

We have seen a couple of snakes in our yard. Not sure of the kind. We steer clear of them. (We've only been in FL for 2 years.)

[WELOVESPUPPIES]

I see an average of 5 snakes a year probably where I live. Some are venomous, most have been black racers during mating time, garter snakes or ring neck snakes (tiny babies about the size of a coffee stirer). The black racers are extremely agressive during breeding, will strike at the smallest movement. I have also seen two or three pigmy rattlers in my area, thankfully none so far this year. I never want to hurt any living creature but when I see a venomous one I do "remove" it with my shovel. My children and my pups saftey comes first. The harmless ones I just try to get them to move on with a broom or something if they have managed to find themselves inside the fenced area for the dogs.

Pythons are not a problem for most of Florida, it is the Everglades. Unfortunately some idiots have gotten tired of their pet or they got to large and they released them. The Everglades is just swamp land basically (full of gators) and the snakes are practically taking over because there is no way to control them down there. Obviously the gators eat them when they are young but apparently the adult snakes have been known to eat the smaller gators. Last I heard they are trying to get a handle on the snake population down there....how? I have no idea.

[Catherinedana]

Aww, what a cute little snake! I wonder what they eat. Insects, maybe?

They probably eat the little anole lizards that we have all over the place and the massive palmetto bugs! The snakes don't upset me but the bugs do! You could put a saddle on some of them and ride them to work!!!