[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

There IS also an INTERESTING non-poisonous snake in Fl that keeps predators (like hawks and eagles) away by LOOKING like a CORAL snake. It has orange, black, and yellow stripes like a coral snake, but in a slightly different order than the coral. Also interesting, there IS a word used in biology for defending from something by "faking" a color or shape of something to be avoided. Some plants do it too. I have forgotten the EXACT WORD. Also interesting is that old-time Floridians have a "singsong" rhyme to distinguish between the coral snake and it's cousin - the look-alike non-poisonous snake. It goes something like..........wait for it........red and yellow together - KILL a feller. Something like that.

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

The snakes here are NOT big enough to eat even a small adult cat, maybe a very little kitty. In Naples and The Everglades National Park there are Boa Constrictors that can OCCASIONALLY get 20ft long and weigh about 150 lbs.......they could get and eat a cat or even a German Shepard. Even a small child.
.....Here locally just about any lake, large or small could contain water mocassins. Locally, I have seen rattlesnake skins on the top of plants inside the area of a Village swimming pool. Rattlesnakes are common and coral snakes are less common. Both can be on golf courses, plants around pools, near any tree, and they come into homes sometimes (not common) The black snake will KILL and eat the poisonous snakes IF it is BIG enough.
.......Actually, the Villages ought to have a program to HATCH black snakes and inform ALL RESIDENTS not to kill them because "they are the GOOD guys of the snake world".
..........And also, it IS really alligators that you should be worried about (snakes, NOT so much). I would add that IF you observe any fool, STUPID ENOUGH TO FEED an alligator. You should kick them in the "southern region"!

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Problems happen in encounters with snakes when a person (or animal) mistakenly steps on one. They have camouflage so it is EASY to NOT see them in grass or MULCH, which is placed liberally around plants in the Villages. The snake feels that something is ATTACKING them so they FIGHT or FLEE like any animal. If they choose to FIGHT, then they bite and the venomous ones also inject poison with their fangs. They are like VERY bigger versions of wasps, hornets, or bees.

Well, that’s a lot to process…………….