Snakes alive ! Jumping and not for joy.
All of the snakes I've ever seen in New Jersey are non-venomous.I've seen quite a few garter snakes
and the much bigger northern banded water snake
I've read that the banded water snake bites can hurt quite a bit (pun intended),
but generally they are harmless.
New jersey does have some venomous snakes. But, in all my many outdoor travels
I've never seen one (knocking on wood).
But, the main one in my area is the northern copperhead. Not a snake I would like to pet.
Further south there are timber rattlesnakes, especially in the pinelands regions.
Although I've encountered a lot of snakes in Florida,
the only time I've ever actually been bitten by a snake, was in Maine of all places.
It was a 'harmless' garter snake. At the tender age of 7, it made me bleed and scared a mite,
but no real other damage.
The next time I encountered snakes was when I went to college out west in Kansas.
They had one of the few veterinary schools in the country and I originally decided to become a veterinarian. While in college I made a lot of friends out there, and had a lot of fun.
The gals all wore leather belts with their name on the back. It sure made introductions easy.
"Hey Sally, how have you been ?"
Since I was totally unfamiliar with the geography there, I had to rely on the locals for locations of interest. One time a friend recommended climbing a "mountain" to watch the sunset.
I was more than a bit skeptical, as Kansas has to be one of the flattest states in the USA.
Florida is another flat state. So anyway, 4 of us drove to this "mountain" together.
It wasn't a mountain, but it was a very large hill. It took us about an hour to get to the top
and at the top was a radio tower. So, crazy as it was, we climbed the radio tower too,
and then watched the sunset.
After climbing down the radio tower, one of us (not me) decided to challenge the other 3 to a race down the "mountain" and shouted "go". So all 4 of us ran down the mountain and on the way down we took somewhat different paths. At one point, I was running full speed and I came to a gully.
In it I noticed 8 coiled rattlesnakes resting on large flat rocks, peering up at me.
There was no stopping. I was going much too fast downhill.
If I tried to stop I'm sure I would have ended (in more ways than one) right in the gully on them.
So, thankfully, I instantly got the idea of jumping, as high, and as far, as I could.
It was the biggest jump I ever attempted. Literally, the jump of my life.
I sailed over the gully and watched the snake heads following the direction of my flight.
I landed beyond the gully on my feet, and continued running to the bottom of the "mountain"
with my heart beating extra fast from my encounter.
While I arrived first at the bottom, all 4 of us thankfully made it.
It was dark by the time we did.
One (not me) was bleeding from a tree branch. Crazy kids !
Comments (9)
I left some sheets of plywood used to board up windows for hurricanes in the back yard. When I lifted a piece, an entire family of snakes headed out in different directions. Using work gloves and a cardboard box, I captured a few and relocated them a block away to the grassy area between the roadway.
However, the photograph you posted is not of a ringneck. That is a southeastern crowned snake.
They are very similar to the rignecks.
Here's a ringneck;
I've seen many different snakes in Florida, including banded water snakes, water moccasins, corn snakes, pygmy rattlers, eastern indigo, and my favorite snake, the black racer. That one is quick !
You just have to be especially wary of the venomous ones and the biggest stranglers.
Some people have snakes as pets and love them. Since they love warmth,
they can be snugglers. Corn snakes are favored.
Personally I prefer dogs, cats & rabbits.
But, to each their own.
U - Winters are great in Florida......and Hawaii, which has no snakes.
C - Well, they ARE attractive to a snake of the same species, especially their mother.
Thanks.
L - You obviously have lots of experience with snakes, from different continent, that I know little about, and thankfully you're alive to talk about it.