Hello, Wayne.  We were talking about Florida snakes - -

 JH> Florida has six species of venemous snakes.  Four of the species can be
 JH> found in Wayne's county (Pinellas) - cottonmouth (water) moccasin,

 WC> Killed 2 on a job site, one stomped with boot as I only saw it
 WC> at the last instant and one terminated when I dropped
 WC> a three hundred pound gas powered pump on it.
 WC> First job actually.

 JH> eastern diamondback rattlesnake,

 WC> Killed one again with boot when it threatened the family dog
 WC> a Basset hound.

Yep.  I think those rattlers kill far more pets then they do people.  I
think I read only about 10% of human victims of venomous snakebites will
even need to be treated with anti-venom, but lots of dogs are bitten on
the head or face, in confrontations.

Remember that old saying about cats having 9 lives?  A neighbor who is a
Vet once told me that cats can survive severe injury much better than
dogs - - the cat can pull through a severe injury which would quickly
put the dog into shock from which it would soon die.

 JH> pygmy rattlesnake,
 WC> I've not seen one.

The only one of those I encountered was up high and dry, in piney-woods,
in Flagler County, between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach.  Saw him
crossing the dirt-road, recognized the pattern on his back, put on
brakes and slid the tires over him.

 JH> and coral snake.

 WC>  Well it was either a coral or one just like it but
 WC>  non-poisonous with differing color band sequence.
 WC>  Got that one installing cable T.V. in Saint Pete.
 WC>  Too close to take a chance on it being the benign
 WC>  variety that resembles the coral snake.

Well, they got that rhyme, which I can never remember right - -
"Red on Yellow- kill a fellow, Red on black, friend of Jack."
But what I can remember is that the eastern coral snake is the only one
of the look-alikes which has a __black nose__.  That is all you need
to remember, but the coral snake also has yellow on its head. Red and
black never touch on his bands - they are always separated by a narrow
yellow band.

Here in Florida, our scarlet king snake is the most unfortunate
look-alike. The scarlet snake is also sometimes confused for a coral
snake, but not nearly so close a mimic of the colors.  Both of these
have _red_ (not black) noses, and no red bands touching yellow bands.

Coral snake - nose is black, broad and rounded.
Scarlet king snake - nose is red and blunt.
Scarlet snake - nose is red and pointed.

There are other coloration differences by which these 3 snakes can
easily be distinguished.  Quick websearch on "Florida coral snake" will
lead quickly to a site which shows pictures of all.

Our eastern coral snakes aren't agressive -  recommended capture method
is to take a stick or something and push him into a 1 GAL milk jug with
its bottom cut out.

 JH> The two others, the timber (canebrake) rattlesnake and the copperhead
 JH> (highland) moccasin live farther north, and in the FL panhandle area,
 JH> respectively.

 WC> Explains why I've seen neither.

 JH> (Moan) - oh, that reminds me - I need to make an appointment for an
 JH> eye exam and to get some new specs.  I thoroughly dislike the aftermath
 JH> of having eyes dilated. I'd rather stay old and ugly.  [:-D.

 WC> I'm not having any problems in that regard ;-)

Started for me at about age 45.  Couldn't read the 'fine print' anymore.
Has progressively gotten worse since then.  Good luck.

 WC> Oh yeah I have nothing against snakes and avoid killing them
 WC> unless in close proximity due to my allergy to atropine.

Yep, we're letting a black snake or two live around here in proximity to
our back patio - - he'll eat any mouse he comes upon, and helps keep
down the population of lizards.  That last one isn't so good, since the
lizards eat insects.  We also have a garter snake or two, and
although harmless, those are just "nasty-disposition" snakes.

 WC> Oh yeah we have also have scorpions and brown recluse spiders
 WC> the smaller species of the former are really nasty and the
 WC> latter are just plain nasty.
 WC> I've seen scorpians, no kills, and seen brown recluse spiders,
 WC> three kills. The unnerving brown recluse was the one I
 WC> saw perched on my arm upon awaking one morning. Made a supreme
 WC> effort to smack the wall with my arm smashing the spider
 WC> without telegraphing the manuver by drawing my arm back
 WC> first. Success leaving brown recluse goo instead of
 WC> the nasty bite which causes one's flesh to rot at the site of
 WC> the bite, possible paralysis and possible death.

Hey, you left out the widow spiders, and you got the black ones, plus
maybe brown and red ones over there in Pinellas county.

Your brown recluse encounter may well have been a mis-identification.
The internet is a good thing.  Google search on "brown recluse Florida"
will give a good source of info.  Did you identify by counting his eyes,
or what?

Brown recluse aren't even native to Florida.  They like to hide in
boxes, so some have been imported in shipments from carpetbaggers moving
in from areas where brown recluse are native.  I forget all the details
I saw in internet search, but there's this arachno-expert from U-Cal
Riverside which will pop up when you do a search.  Tampa 'poison
control' identified some large number of brown recluse bites, way more
than the number of brown recluse spiders which have ever been verified
to be in Florida.  On that search, you'll see that there are a large
number of other causes for necrotic tissue, which seems to have been
the basis of most brown recluse diagnoses in the Tampa area.  Among
the most likely true diagnoses, is Lyme Disease, caused by tick bites.

 WC> In a rural cattle farm area with lots of trees and few clearings
 WC> I had the rather rare opportunity to see the nearly extinct Florida
 WC> Panther in it's natural habitat.
 WC> Actually I walked under a large branch it was perched on
 WC> no less than three times before I heard a thump as it hit
 WC> the ground and turned to see it regain the cover at the other side
 WC> of the clearing in two leaps.
 WC> Moved so fast I really only got a glimpse but that was OK
 WC> by me as a more intimate encounter was not on my wish list ;-)
 WC> Yes that last encounter left me a tad shaken for a few minutes.

Good for you, and lucky too.  I'm not a great outdorsman, but have been
here in FL all my life except for 2 yrs in the Army.  I've seen FL
panther and also bobcat/wildcat, but only as roadkill.  Both of
those types of cats seem to be careful to keep far away from humans.
unlike - -

Recent reports - 3 sightings of black bear here in our subdivision - -
We are on a tributary of the Wekiva River, and maybe the bear wandered
upstream this far.  Too bad for the bear - it will probably end up
reported, encountered, and euthanized.

- - -  JimH.
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