#RARE POISONOUS SNAKE ESCAPE FLORIDA PATCH#

It's looking for mice and wanted a nice shady place to get into,' says Mary Wall of the Calusa Nature Center.Įxperts say you should cut your grass to avoid snake problems, and patch up any holes in your screen doors. If you find a snake in your house or backyard, it's almost always going to be harmless.

'It's super rare to find a venomous snake in your backyard. There are about 20 species of snakes in Southwest Florida, and four of them are venomous.īut the likelyhood of a venomous one being in your backyard or home is very slim. They say all snakes are just searching for water, shelter, food, and warmth. We spoke with experts at the Calusa Nature Center in Fort Myers. But the state's poison center says it's unusually busy this fall. Spring and summer are usually the busiest times of year for snake bites. Humans are not part of their natural diet, so there is no reason. As with all non-venomous snakes, they tend to escape or swim away as their first option. Water snakes aren’t generally dangerous to humans because they don’t have fatal venom. If they are too cold, that's when you see snakes just hanging out on the street, getting warm from the hot pavement. Water snakes give many people pause, but northern water snakes are common snakes that cause no harm. It's simple…if snakes are too hot, they will look for a nice cold, shady spot inside your home or A/C unit. I wanted my community to feel safe, he told KTVT.

and reported the cobra’s disappearance, although he now believes the snake is dead.

And some those calls were from Lee and Collier counties. Mat noticed his pet was missing around 5:00 p.m. Across the state, Florida's Poison Control Center has received more than 500 calls about snake bites so far this year. Deaths are rare however, and bites can be treated with CroFab antivenom, a serum made with venom components from four species of American pit vipers.LEE COUNTY, Fla. The venom of water moccasins contains strong hemotoxins that can hemorrhage and destroy tissue, leading to 'temporary and/or permanent tissue and muscle damage loss of an extremity, depending on the location of the bite internal bleeding and extreme pain around the injection area,' according to LiveScience. Florida's Poison Control Centers told News4Jax that in northeastern Florida, there have been 40 people, from 3 to 75 years old, who have been bitten by water moccasins so far this year alone. 'I was in the backyard playing and I was going to pick up a rock and the snake jumped out and bit me,' Elijah told News4Jax.įlorida has six native venomous snake species. They are relatively unaggressive, with experiments done on wild specimens showing that of 45 wild moccasins, 51 percent tried to escape, while 28 of 36 (78 percent) displayed threat signals and were only likely to bite when picked up with a mechanical hand. But one species, the eastern garter snake, seems to tolerate cold temperatures. So, the probability of seeing one is low. Moccasins can be recognized from their distinctive large blocky heads with narrow necks. When hiking around the Florida panhandle in midwinter, most snakes are undercover trying to avoid the chilly cold fronts that pass through and can drop temperatures close to freezing. Water moccasins, also known as cottonmouths, are often confused with their non-venomous cousins, water snakes, which are often found in the same habitats. Elijah was bitten by this kind of venomous snake. Venomous snakes are legal to own in North Carolina, but they must be kept in an escape-proof, bite-proof enclosures and owners must notify law enforcement if one escapes. Stock image: a water moccasin, or cottonmouth, with classic open mouth threat display. A rare two-headed snake was found in a Florida home The Southern black racer snake is a result of twins that did not separate The reptile has two separate heads and tongues connected to a single.

Rare poisonous snake escape florida