My brother and I saved each others lives

[Dark Dragonite]

That's what family is for, isn't it?

My brother turned 7 on the 14th, yes, I know, the day before my ex...irony...anyways, we were home today, and around 7pm I went out to check the weather, and Philip came out behind me, in his undies, no shoes, as usual, lol, when I turned to look at him, I noticed something move out of the corner of my eye...there, maybe a foot away from us was a coral snake, yes, the venomous one, not to be confused with the King Snake...I rushed Philip inside, but knew he would be a real threat to us all if I lost him...so, I let instinct, and my protective nature kick in...I grabbed a shovel and beat the snot out of that snake...it was long, probably like 3feet or so...and yes, when in danger, they rattle their tail like the rattlesnake...it was too close to home, I didn't know where the hospital was then, a half hour drive atleast, I had to keep my loved ones safe.That was the second one I've seen since I moved in Feb...it's a bit scary, but, it comes with Florida...

[Razola]

You seem to join enjoy posting every detail of your life as of recent. Maybe you should look into the thousands of blog sites that we really don't need but have anyways.

Oh, and it was probably a scarlet snake:

The Scarlet Kingsnake (Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides) is a type of king snake that is found in the Eastern portion of the United States, particularly Florida.

Way to kill a harmless animal?

Even if it was a Coral Snake, the odds of it getting you were TINY. Most people get bit when they get too close to an animal. Being a foot away; it's probably wary of you. Usually you have to pretty damn close to get a nip. Scary, but hardly life-threatening.

[Hatake Kakashi]

Hate to burst your bubble, but according to Wikipedia, King Snakes don't have venom. They're constrictors.

And they eat rattlesnakes, so if anything you endangered your lives more than anything.

EDIT - And no it couldn't be a coral snakes. Coral snakes don't live in Florida.

[PancaKe]

hmmm.
Thats nothing.
Try living with brown snakes, red belly black snakes, white tail spiders, red back spiders, and other creatures that can kill you/seriously damage you for life in your backyard.
They're not technically in MY backyard (the spiders are) but the snakes would definetly be in bronzie's backyard.
I really dont like spiders or snakes.

[Dark Dragonite]

It was a Coral Snake, I know the damn rhime...
"Red against black, friend of Jack, red against yellow, kill a fellow"
I can take a picture if you would like, it was red touching yellow.
The reason I found it to be a threat was, my brother and I could have gone without seeing it, and stepped on it, or he, not knowing it was dangerous could have tried to touch it, like the geckos around here, or it could have gone in the house.
The leading causes of Coral Snake bites is grapping, stepping on, or sitting on them.

[Alucard]

That poor little snake. Up against a shovel. Didn't stand a chance...

Americans answer to everything: If it poses a threat, kill it. ;/

The leading causes of Coral Snake bites is grapping, stepping on, or sitting on them.

No offence, but if you're too fucking stupid to notice a red and yellow snake before your ass squashes it, you deserve to be bitten lolz. ;x

[Chris 2.1]

Well DD I say good for you, you acted on instinct and put someones life before yours. Even if Wikipedia is true (hmm...) and it wasnt poisonous, at least you got things the right way round. I'm sure you're glad you killed an innocent snake thinking it was deadly instead of ignoring a deadly snake thinking it was innocent.

[Dark Dragonite]

that's it, I'm putting up a photo of the snake...prolly tomorrow, when I have time...it was the venemous kind, not the king, it was the coral...

Edit, in the better judgement, rather than put a picture of a dead snake up, I'll show you a few...



My snake was the one on the left, yellow against black, with a yellow and black head

http://www.floridaorienteering.org/nature/coralking.htm
More info...

[Systematic Revolution]

Whether coral snakes are native to Florida or not is completely and utterly redundant.

I would tell you that it is impossible for there to be a panther living in Pennsylvania but I would be lying because I saw the damn thing with my own eyes, as did my grandmother and my uncle. I would tell you that there are no mountain lions in Pennsylvania if I haven't seen several in my lifetime (having been in the mountains all my life). Pennsylvania wildlife officials claim that mountain lions have never existed in PA... Seen 'em.. In fact, a lady near Lancaster had her dog eaten by an oversized mountain lion not too long ago. It was on the news just a couple months ago.

Right along those lines... Big trucks bring in all sorts of exotic animals. You think they check every crate of bananas brought in from Brazil? No. Which is why there was an instance back in November with one where my girlfriend's sister was almost bit by one. Their dog WAS bit by one and died. The Brazilian Wandering Spider (or banana spider) is one of the most venomous spiders on the planet.

You would be surprised as to what can be found in the United States that isn't native. Killer bees aren't native and we definitely have killer bees in the US. Gypsy moths are definitely not native. They were brought over in the 80s.

Glad you took care of business Steve.

[Dark Dragonite]

Thank you, believe it or not, the ants took care of business too, no more carcass, lol

[Blademaster]

I'm with Chris (again), DD - you should be proud of yourself. I feel some pity for the snake, though - I wouldn't have pounded it with the shovel, I'd have just fwacked it out into the street and let a car or a lawnmower take care of it.

Still, way to protect your li'l bro - I'm sure Tom McKinley would be proud of you.

Incidentally, have you though of becoming an exterminator at any point in your life?

Just a thought...

[Myster Myuu]

DD, I sallute you! ~sallutes~

I do not like venmous things that can make me dead in short order. While I am a peaceful, loving, caring man who feels that life for anything is a blessing on us all... I tend to go out of my way to step on suspicious-looking spiders. Of course, the fact the poisonous critters seem to be attracted to me has fueled my paranoia...

DATELINE: Arizona, 10 years ago
I was sitting on my grandmas back porch, half-dozing and minding my own business when I feel something crawling on my leg. I glance down to witness a very large black widow attempting to crawl up my pant leg. I panic, scream (I was 12, afterall), slap it off my leg and proceed to turn it into a stain

2 days later, I was exploring the rather large yard my grandma had. I come across a small shed that looked like it was in a state of dis-repair. I open the door, being the curious individual I am... 2 things jump out at me. First, its the overwhelming number of centipedes crawling about the floor.... the second is a tarantula that had been perched on the door frame. The tarantula nearly landed on my head. I panic, scream, and ran back to the house. I spent the rest of my vacation indoors.

DATELINE: Ohio, 7 years ago
Once again, I was sitting on a porch, half-dozing on a cool spring day. You'd think I would have learned not to do this. My eyes are half-open and I see a blury shape appear in my line of vision. I open my eyes fully to see a brown recluse staring back at me, no more than an inch away from my face. Before I can do anything, it unlatches itself from its spider thread thingy and falls onto my chest. I panic, scream, swat the thing off me and grab a sandal (wasnt wearing any shoes) and proceeded to turn it into a stain.

About 5 months later, Im visiting an uncle at his beach house. You ever heard of rock fish? They are these weird fish that look like rocks and are EXTREMELY poisonous. if you step on one, it injects you with a neuro-toxin that will kill a full-grown human in about 1 minute. I came about 10 inches away from stepping on one.

DATELINE: Pennsylvania, 4 Years Ago
Hiking through the forest one day near my house, I hear a see something moving on the ground out of ther corner of my eye. I turn and see, about 3 feet away, 2 Copperheads that look very displeased to see me. I stand there, frozen for the better part of a half hour before the snakes lose interest and go away.

DATE LINE: Pennsylvania, Last Year
I go to the store to pick up some supplies. Im in the fruit isle. and decide to get some bananas. I pick a bundle up and, low and behold, the biggest fecking spider Ive ever seen is just lounging beneath them. I panic, scream, and squish what I later found out to be a banana spider with a bundle of bananas. I found its demise rather ironic...

Yea, as you can see Im not very fond of poisonous anything. Any creature carrying a venom in it that makes me dead can go take a flying lead off a tall cliff


Systematic Revolution,
You're right, I dont care what anybody says, there ARE Panthers in Pennsylvania. Ive had two encounters with them. First time, I was bringing in groceries when I head this blood-curdling screech coming from the woods. Having heard the cry of panthers before while at the zoo, I knew exactly what it was and made haste to my house.
Second time was while walking in the woods. I come across a deer grazing and stop to watch it. Suddenly, I see a jet black blur screeching towards the deer at top speed. It's a black panther and it pounces the deer before the poor thing sees whats coming. I stuck around a little longer than I should have because Im facinated by black panthers. But I decided to take me leave when the panther looked my way in a less than friendly manner.

And that concludes the Misadventures of Myster Myuu...

~panics, screams, and ends this post with a well-placed slam of the foot~

[SupremeChampion]

[i]mr. myuu... not offense man but you would be better off living in your house, never leaving your room (which is made out of stone)... but anyway i've never really seen anything dangerous... like spiders yea but no posionous ones, or anything like a moutain lion or panther... i've have some demonic dogs bark at me, thats about it. my one friend though, at this camp we were at, got bit by a wolf spider (nonposionous)... well he didn't know it at the time, and i swear i have never seen anyone run faster than he did at that moment in time (he was fine, btw lol)

~The Italian Stallion

[Myster Myuu]

If my daily routine did not require me to leave the semi-safety of my home, I would never tread outside the front door. Unfortunately, it seems there is no end to reasons why I must venture out-doors...

An Update: Even as I type this, A centipede was entered into my vision, crawling about on my wall. Its never a very big one, look like a baby to me. Unfortunately for the vermin, it has entered into the wrong house: the house of a paranoid lunatic with a healthy fear for poisonous creatures. ~picks up a shotgun~ Now.. if you excuse me.. I have some business to attend to with my little many-legged friend. ~cocks shotgun and aims~

[Hatake Kakashi]

It was a Coral Snake, I know the damn rhime...
"Red against black, friend of Jack, red against yellow, kill a fellow"
I can take a picture if you would like, it was red touching yellow.
The reason I found it to be a threat was, my brother and I could have gone without seeing it, and stepped on it, or he, not knowing it was dangerous could have tried to touch it, like the geckos around here, or it could have gone in the house.
The leading causes of Coral Snake bites is grapping, stepping on, or sitting on them.

No... Coral snakes don't live in Florida.

[Magmar]

Will the lot of you shut the frig up? DD just saved his brother and wanted to post to detail the realities of those procedures they teach you in school about saving your own skin. Instead you're all pining and moaning over him killing an effing snake. Well frig yous! DD is the man.

[Dark Dragonite]

No... Coral snakes don't live in Florida.

Really? Last time I checked, you lived in Mass. which is far from Florida...I've encountered 2 in 2 months already, they come up to our porch, near the front door...They live in Texas and mexico as well, which is about the gulf away? And Systematic Revolution has a point, a lot of bugs, snakes get in in crates from other countries, you should know about the Asian Long Horn beetle, it was in NY, and everyone's out to kill it cause of what it does to trees, where could it come from, NY is nowhere near Asia?

For the rest of you, great stories, keep em commin, lol\

Oh, and I doubt all these sites are wrong...

"Florida is home to six kinds of venomous snakes. There are two types of venomous snakes in Florida. The Crotalidae, or pit vipers, and the Elapidae. Included in the family of pit vipers are the Diamondback Rattlesnake, Canebrake Rattlesnake, Pigmy Rattlesnake, Cottonmouth (or Water Mocassin), and the Copperhead. The venom of these snakes is haemotoxic, that is, it destroys the red blood cells and the walls of the blood vessels of the victim. The Elapidae, represented in Florida by the Coral Snake, have neurotoxic venom. This attacks the nervous system of a victim, bringing on paralysis. "

"The Coral Snake's venom is the most potent of any of North America's snakes per volume. It carries neurotoxic venom (attacks nervous system). It has short fixed fangs and a small mouth. It does not strike and inject venom like the pit vipers but bites and almost has hold on for a little while to inject its poison. Many people use this rhyme "red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, okay Jack." to differentiate the Coral Snake from non-venomous copycats like the Scarlet King Snake. It occurs throughout Florida, primarily in heavy brush, nearly underground, occasionally emerging after heavy rains. Average adult size is 20-30 inches, and the record is 47.5 inches"

http://www.aaanimalcontrol.com/snakes.htm
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herp...e/compare4.htm

"Found more or less commonly throughout Florida, the coral inhabits pine woods, pond and lake borders and the jungle-like growth of Florida's hammocks. It favors such places as rotting logs, piles of decaying vegetation, heavy fallen leaf cover and old brush piles."

http://myfwc.com/viewing/species/snakesv.html#coral

I could probably post another 600,000 links that prove there are coral snakes in Florida...some of those education, and government links

[Little_Pikachu]

The only venomous snake we have in the UK is the adder and they suck so I'm not really worried about snakes coming to get me :} Even if one did I probably wouldn't kill it though, I can't even squash a spider or a woodlouse or anything, I feel really guilty and I don't even particuarly like them, I have to get them in a glass and throw them out. I could never kill something like a snake unless my life was being threatened, i.e. it was coming at me, hissing and really pissed off looking like it was going to really bite. If it was just hanging around I'd call the wildlife animal rescue guys to take it away. Poor snakey didn't have to die :<

[Heald]

What snake is goods at maths?

An adder!

Ho ho ho.

Yeah, the most dangerous thing we have in Blighty is Ian Huntley.

[phaedrus]

in ohio, people are more worried about black bears than snakes. most dangerous thing we have. i bet those buggers could take on Ian Huntley.

[Heald]

Funnily enough, if those buggers happen to be Man United fans, Ian Huntley will try and bugger them.

[Dark Dragonite]

Poor snakey didn't have to die :<

Does Kitty still hat me?

[Little_Pikachu]

Does Kitty still hat me?

Kitty hats most people, especially you and Kauy :< She may forget, but she does not forgive.

[Dark Dragonite]

Kitty hats most people, especially you and Kauy :< She may forget, but she does not forgive.

LOL, only, I don't think Kauy is kauy anymore, I think kauy is now buzzy