Question for Florida PetTalkers

**Pam** · 07-18-2009, 06:10 PM

Yesterday on the news there was a story about someone being bitten by a snake at a Florida Walmart in their garden section (the person is suing Walmart BTW). Now I just heard that a little child was killed by a python in Florida. The report mentioned just how many snakes there are in Florida but unfortunately I forget the number

. Have any of you PetTalkers run into snakes in your day-to-day lives? I just can't imagine that.

**aTailOf2Kitties** · 07-18-2009, 06:47 PM

I don't live in FL but I have seen several stories on pythons that used to be people's pets getting loose (or released) and overpopulating parts of Florida. They thrive in the heat and are a real threat to natural wildlife and pets.

**Pam** · 07-19-2009, 08:39 AM

Well I guess they aren't as much of a problem as the reports would indicate - at least among Florida Pet Talkers!

**BitsyNaceyDog** · 07-19-2009, 10:10 AM

We see a lot of snakes in our yard, not daily though. We've only seen one venomous snake in our yard and that was a coral snake. It's not unusual for us to see black racers, rat snakes, or Florida water snakes in our yard. We've seen a couple hognose snakes too and a few others. I've seen rattlesnakes on a few occasions, but never in our yard.

We live completely surrounded by woods though, with water nearby, so we probably have more than the average yard has. We're always keeping a look out for snakes. We really enjoy seeing the non-venomous snakes in our yard. We're always cautious though and keep an eye out for venomous snakes, especially with Nathan and the dogs.

Here's a yellow rat snake we've seen in our yard.

Florida has 37 non-venomous species and 6 venomous.

**Daisy and Delilah** · 07-19-2009, 07:50 PM

I see a snake now and again but it's pretty rare within city limits. When I used to live out in the country, I saw alot more.

I'll never forget some of the rattlesnakes I saw many many years ago close by my Grandmother's house. Some of those rattlers were the size of a human leg. Pretty scary. I don't mind snakes at all as long as they're not poisonous.

Pam: sorry I'm just seeing this. It does seem like we hear snake stories all the time.

**Pam** · 07-19-2009, 08:22 PM

Tonight I was watching ABC News and they again had a story about Florida and the snake situation. Apparently pythons are more of a problem than the other types, at least at this point. They stated that cats and, lately, alligators have been prey.

I went to their website to get a link (so that you don't think I am imagining that I see this stuff on TV

) but they don't have it on their site. Honestly, snakes seem to be pretty rare here in NJ. I don't know what I would do if I ever saw one, no matter how large (or even small...haha!)

**Alysser** · 07-20-2009, 01:02 PM

You've never seen snakes around Jersey, Pam? I've seen quite a few garder snakes. I live by the Manasquan Watershed, that's where I've seen them. I should ask my brother about it, he lives in West Palm. Many pythons are released into the wild by there owners who didn't think before they got them.