Snake invades shuffleboard game
 

Well this was a first! This snake decided to stop our shuffleboard game and slither across the courts:

https://youtu.be/oiFhfcWx5Jo

Black racer. Supposed to be the third fastest snake breed on the planet.

Sidewinder. 29 km /18 m per hour. ...
Black Mamba. 19 km /12 m per hour. ...
Southern Black Racer. 16 km /10 m per hour.

(safarisafricana dot com)

We were going to play at the Sawgrass putting course a few months ago and a large black bear came by and eyeballed us. Since we did not have a tee time, maybe he (or she) thought we were going to cut in front of him (or her).

We drove home.

Also, the black racer is the most important snake in Florida.
They eat rats and rodents, do not hurt them.

Somewhere I read a university down in Miami raises them and releases them in the wild.

Yeah, I heard that about the rodents. Every creature has its place and function (except mosquitoes...No earthly reason for them to exist).

My first contact with a Black Racer...I was walking on an MMP when I heard a commotion in the weeds next to me. A Black Racer came barreling out from below some low bushes, slammed on the brakes, looked up at me, reversed course and disappeared just as fast. Must have been chasing something. I didn't know what it was at the time (here only a few weeks) but did some reading. But it WAS quick. Never seen a snake move so fast.

Things move fast in Florida. We even saw a turtle run last week.

We were walking the trail around Hogeye Sink and saw a turtle trying to cross Marsh Bend Trail. I tried helping it up the curb. I finally got it over the curb and I tried helping it move away from the road and toward the pond. Once it could smell the water (I think), it started moving it's legs very energetically and I dropped it. Then I swear the turtle ran into the pond. I never saw a turtle move so fast.

That's one of the good snakes a Black Racer!

Just be cautious of snapping turtles. The adults can snap a broom handle in half.
Ask me how I know. :o

Yeah, I believe you. In general, I have always thought water turtles were more dangerous than land turtle.

Once, when i was young, I saved a snapping turtle that was trying to cross I-75 in Paynes Prairie, just south of Gainesville FL. It was small to medium sized, so I grabbed it from behind and threw it into the marsh. I remember it looked pretty funny sailing thru the air with all four legs extended.

We have one living under our air conditioner pad...

Freaks the wife out every once in a while...

You forgot to add ticks, especially the deer tick, to the list of creatures without any useful function and absolutely no earthly reason for them to exist.

Funny!!

Kudos to the shuffleboard players! It was very heartening to see that it was not summarily killed by those who may fear snakes. If they bother you, simply stand clear. They do serve a very useful purpose.

Possums are among the creatures that eat ticks, and bats are among those that eat mosquitoes.

Village jail time for someone😂

Black racers are fine, but I don't like a venomous snake that's faster than me.

In my senior year of high school in Fort Myers FL, we read "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". It is about an old sailor who lives under a bridge who stops a person going to a wedding and tells his sad story about killing an albatross and how much he regrets it. As I recall, this was near the end of the poem:

"Farewell, farewell, but this I tell to thee, thou wedding guest.
He prayeth well, who loveth well, both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best, all things both great and small.
For the great God who loveth us, he made and loveth all."

True. Thankfully no Sidewinders or Black Mambas in Florida.

I've always been a guy who loves nature and nature photography, and find the reptiles of Florida fascinating. Not many reptiles in Minnesota where I hail from. Some nondescript snakes, turtles, skinks, the odd Rattlesnake down near the Iowa border. Not much more than that. But Florida has a wealth of them. I've photographed a few, not so easy as they're either not moving at all, or moving VERY quickly, and I like to get as close as possible.

A box turtle is basically a land turtle and is pretty docile and slow. Yow can pick them up easily by their shell and they can't reach around and bite you. Not so with a snapping turtle with a long neck and a short shell. One rainy day, I stopped my car because a turtle was stopped in the middle of a road lane and cars were going over him. His head was pulled into his shell and he was afraid to move. It was dark and I thought it was a box turtle, which often finds itself in that predicament. When I picked it up, I knew something was wrong. I put it back down and used my feet to herd it across the road. I have done that often in the past because I figure that I may need "extra credit" in order to get into heaven when that time comes. Incidentally, I don't see many land turtles around the Villages. Maybe because of mosquito spraying?

Besides eating bugs, the black snake will fight a rattlesnake and drive it away. So, they are very beneficial to have around one's house. Incidentally, there are a lot of rattlesnakes in the Villages (not talking 2 legged types). I have seen many rattlesnake skins in the bushes around our swimming pools.

Rattlesnakes are NOT faster than a human being. They can't eat humans so they leave them alone. Rattlesnake bites on humans usually occur when a person accidentally steps on one. They blend in easily with grass. Andon cold mornings they curl up to conserve heat and get stepped on. From that curled-up position, they will lunge out if disturbed. Snakes make every POSSIBLE effort to avoid humans. I was once fishing and standing in about 3 feet of water in Florida. I had on shorts and a water moccasin swam by within inches of my bare leg. It just kept on swimming and could care less about me. Florida is FILLED with animals, so if you live here long enough, you will encounter many, Sometimes up close.

I've seen several coral snakes pass through my backyard over the past 5 years or so. They are very colorful and rather docile. I believe there venom attacks the central nervous system.

Years ago, I was fishing. I lifted a rock looking for bait and several snakes were under the rock. Black racer fast? I was younger just yesterday. As there were no movies. I now tell the story that I can run at least 100 mph.