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I Don't Like Spiders And Snakes...

By
Services for Real Estate Pros

Well...

I just don't like spiders, snakes aren't all that bad...

Only 6 out of our 44 Florida snakes are venomous! These snakes are the eastern coral, the southern copperhead, the cottonmouth, and 3 species of rattlesnake; eastern diamondback, timber and the dusky pygmy rattler.

If you see one of these mentioned, no not approach them, back away slowly. If you find them in a home or building call your local animal control and have the experts come and remove them. (In my 4.5 yrs in FL I've never seen any rattle snakes, however that doesn't mean they aren't right next door.)

All of Florida's snakes are good for our environment. Yes I know, a lot of people tend to scream and run or kill the snake at first sight of them, but don't. These non venomous snakes eat the other critters you don't like for example, rats and other pest like rodents.

  

Believe it or not I've rescued three men in two separate incidents from the non venomous Black Racer, and even got bit by one ungrateful critter for saving it from a certain demise had I not been there to rescue either the big linebacker type young man or snake.  

 

 

 

Nine times out of ten when you see these guys laying around they are just trying to get warm, they don't like you anymore then you like them and just want to be left alone. They will run (slither) from you faster then you can run from them.  Frankly I'd much rather have one of these around my yard then a rat chewing into my power or A/C lines which can happen quite frequently around here and becomes quite costly for the homeowner. 

 

 

There is also the Eastern Black Indigo that often gets confused with the Black Racer, heck I confuse them all the time. This is just as harmless as the Black Racer.

 

 

 

Now spiders on the other hand I do NOT like. I have no use for them what so ever! I don't go off killing every spider I see mind you, but I do try to avoid them at all cost.

Florida has 5 species of venomous spiders: The ever so popular Black Widow resides here very happily! You all know what she looks like, black with the red hour glass on her belly.

Well she has cousins....

My first year here I found her cousin the "Brown Widow". She looks like her black widow cousin except she is brown with the same bright red hour glass.

Our bug guy that sprayed our beachside office had never heard of the species until I showed him one day. The outside of our office was covered in nests of brown widows. He was so excited he brought a book the next day to show me. He wasn't showing me something I didn't know already, I was all over the internet the first time I saw one.

According to the internet the brown widow sticks to beachside communities south of Daytona Beach. I'm here to tell you that is wrong. I've found her north of Daytona and across the river. They like to hide their nests under window eaves, bbq grills, chairs etc. Their nests are round balls with spikes coming out of them.

 

Then there is the Red Widow. I've never seen or heard of this spider until researching this blog. They don't look like their cousins except in shape. They have a black belly, red head and red spots on the top of their belly outlined in yellow.  

They like palmettos and sand-pine scrubs, that's why I've never seen one...

My, isn't she a lovely specimen? (ewe!)

 

 

 

Then my favorite non favorite, the Brown Recluse. These nasty little buggers hide in places that aren't messed with often. For example that corner of your shed that you've been meaning to clean up for the last year, beds used for guests only, or (yikes) clothes that have been left hanging for a long period of time.

The bite of this spider should be attended ASAP as it kills the living tissue of the skin around the bite area.

The brown recluse has a brown fiddle shaped marking from his head back toward his body.

 

 

We do have rather large Wolf spiders and they are not venomous but (icky) they do rear up on their back legs when you try to push them out of your garage!

 

Precautions:

Wear gloves when doing yard work. That'll hopefully stop any unexpected bites from spiders. The good snakes will run away usually before you see them. Wear shoes when doing yard work, not flip flops.

 

The Eastern Diamond Back can strike up to 4 ft high and doesn't usually warn you with a rattle so keep alert while hiking oe in his or her territory.

 

Don't stick your hand into any crevices, between rocks or into holes that you can't see into. Spiders like dark places (along with other insects & critters you may not want to meet).

 

Black Racer Photo & Eastern Indigo Photo By Kenneth L. Krysko courtsey of myflorida.com

spider photos thanks to University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

 

 

 

Comments (36)

Joe Manausa - Tallahassee, FL
Joe Manausa Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee Real Estate
I'm not a big fan of spiders or snakes either. Great post. Super info.
Sep 15, 2007 03:00 AM
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL

Jay, I forgot you boardered SD, we had a lot of rattlers one the west side of SD, I'd see them there all the time growing up.

Hi Rosario! I know your area, I lived north of you in Saratoga County for 5 yrs. Never saw any snakes there, turkey and deer were everywhere tho!

Jeff, LOL! I hear ya, they do the same to me!

Joe, Thanks! Snakes aren't all that bad, honest!

 

Sep 15, 2007 05:41 AM
Nick M.
Certified Residential Appraiser- West Palm Beach Real Estate - West Palm Beach, FL
Realtor-Appraiser in West Palm-South Florida Real Estate Appraiser

Hi Lysa, you're right about the brown recluse.. ASAP is the word. they will leave big holes.. and don't forget about the coral snakes.. "red touches back, friend to jack,.. red touches yellow, you're a dead dude, er uh fellow."

ok, i know it's in the link in the post.. but i couldn't resist inserting 'dude' in there.. sorry.. i'll grow up someday :)  (figuratively speaking of course)

Sep 15, 2007 06:25 AM
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL
Nick, Hey feel free to "inject" anytime! Actually great pictures of the two different kinds of snakes, now I know which snake I was playing with at the White Eagle one night! (Remember the Korona post?)
As far as growing up? Who want's to completely grow up? What fun is that?
Sep 15, 2007 08:00 AM
Jo-Anne Smith
Oakville, ON

Lysa, I loved this post of yours.

I'm a zoologist and I adore both spiders and snakes. I've been bitten by a large Garter snake when I was showing it to a group of young boys I was teaching environmental science to. It didn't break the skin, just left a little red mark on my forearm, but I sure dropped that snake in a hurry!

Beautiful pics too !

Jo 

 

Sep 15, 2007 09:56 AM
Kim Murphy
Draper and Kramer - Lombard, IL
Mortgage Loans in DuPage, Kane, Cook, Lake, Will C
Lysa, I HATE snakes!  But spiders don't bother me so much.  I take them outside when I find them in the house.  Thanks for the information on these critters!
Sep 15, 2007 12:56 PM
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL

Hi Jo! Glad you enjoyed it. When the black racer bit me, it drew blood, not much, but you could see just were it's tiny teeth broke the skin on my finger. Lucky for it, I knew how to remove it's mouth from finger w/o pulling too many teeth.

Kim, That's so intersting! If I find a spider in the house it's life will be cut short by me or my kitties! But a snake will get rescued :)

Sep 17, 2007 01:45 AM
Boomer Jack Boardman & Carl McIntyre, the Codgers
Noted Curmudgeons - Saint Paul, MN

Jay was here todayJust checking in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 18, 2007 11:49 AM
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL
LOL Jay! Love it!
Sep 19, 2007 12:57 AM
Joe Dallorso
Ocala, FL
Ocala Real Estate

Hi Lysa

A very informative post. I book marked it for future reference.

My neighbor left a smelly trash barrel outside his garage & on trash day picked it up only to find a Diamondback coiled up underneath. It just took off fortunately

Sep 19, 2007 03:30 AM
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL
Joe, Thanks! Usually the animals are more scared of us then we are of them, usually... good thing for your neighbor!
Sep 19, 2007 10:41 AM
Joan Mirantz
Homequest Real Estate - Concord, NH
Realtor, GRI, CBR, SRES - Concord New Hampshire

Lysa...this post made me squirm!!

Sep 19, 2007 04:19 PM
Robert Monk
100% Realty, Inc. - Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Florida Real Estate
Lysa, you have got some great information about all those creepy-crawlers.  I try to befriend the black snake.  I've even heard they chase away the venomous snakes.  Did you have a reaction to the black snake bite you spoke of?
Sep 25, 2007 05:53 AM
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL
Hi Robert, thanks! Yes, I like the black racers too, I had not heard they keep the venomous snakes away tho. No reaction to the snake bite, except for chewing the snake out for biting me!
Sep 25, 2007 06:14 AM
Terry Haugen STAGE it RIGHT! 321-956-2495
Stage it Right! - Melbourne, FL
Lysa, the Indigo snake is also protected here.  I love snakes because they eat bugs and mice and stuff.  We've had quite a lot of widows, both brown and black here in our garage and outside.  NOW those are something I can do without.  I usually try to be kind to all living things, but those spiders need to live someplace else.  Thanks for the info.  By the way, have you packed all your priceless memorabilia in plastic containers yet?:-)
Sep 25, 2007 10:32 AM
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL
Terry, I didn't know the Indigo was protected! That's great to know! I just found (yesterday) a bunch of brown widow nests here at the office (outside) and our office sits at the on ramp to I-4, thats quite aways from the beach. As far as my priceless stuff? Most of it is still in boxes from our move, and if we evac it goes with me! The stuff that isn't packed is hanging on the walls.
Sep 26, 2007 01:24 AM
Anonymous
Ed in Fred
What command do you give to a black widow to make it roll over so you can see its belly?
Oct 06, 2007 11:59 PM
#33
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL
Ed in Fred, Thanks for the laugh! I'll use a VERY LONG stick to turn them over to check :)
Oct 07, 2007 12:02 AM
David Kelso
Century 21 Sundance Realty - Port Orange, FL

Geez Lysa...looking at your wildlife photos,I recalled the day you brought the racoon into the office. I had visions of his tails flying high from the aerial on my 10 speed..but noooooooooooooo..you wouldn't hear of it. Then you had that snake. I was envisioning a new pair of snakeskin boots. Once again you ruined my plans. damn!!!!   Guess its time for each of us to make room, and accept all living things that we share the planet with,I think it's explained pretty well in 'The Circle of Life'.

David

Oct 08, 2007 05:32 AM
Lysa Napolitano
Daytona Beach, FL

Yep David I have to guard my creatures from you pretty good don't I?  You're too much :)

Oct 08, 2007 06:14 AM