Snakes, alligators, sting rays.... Florida residents warned, stay out of flood waters

[Debp]

 

[Lambano]

I used to live in SoFla. One of my co-workers who had just transferred down from our New York office was doing some research on the native flora and fauna, and he noted that we had this one-of-a kind caterpillar that'll sting you when you touch it. This to go with the alligators, four species of venomous snakes including the beautiful but deadly coral snake that I came within about six inches of touching, poisonous spiders, sting rays, jellyfish, sharks, panthers, barracudas... "Is everything here out to kill me?", he asked.

 

[mailmandan]

Don't forget about sharks.

 

[ProverbsInPink]

Florida has huge constrictors there now. Those that can wrap and swallow adults,children,pets.

God be with Florida.

 

[Jack]

I used to live in SoFla. One of my co-workers who had just transferred down from our New York office was doing some research on the native flora and fauna, and he noted that we had this one-of-a kind caterpillar that'll sting you when you touch it. This to go with the alligators, four species of poisonous snakes including the beautiful but deadly coral snake that I came within about six inches of touching, poisonous spiders, sting rays, jellyfish, sharks, panthers, barracudas... "Is everything here out to kill me?", he asked.

I used to live in Orlando. One poor lady lost her 3 little kids to a TINY beautiful coral snake. My uncle had a gator in his back yard! Some have opened their front door to be greeted by a gator! Wouldn't that be a thrill! Florida? No thanks! Beautiful but DEADLY! Not long ago at Disney a gator grabbed a tiny child, and was gone. I don't think they ever found the child.

 

[Jack]

Don't forget about sharks.

WOW!!!

 

[Lambano]

I used to live in Orlando. One poor lady lost her 3 little kids to a TINY beautiful coral snake. My uncle had a gator in his back yard! Some have opened their front door to be greeted by a gator! Wouldn't that be a thrill! Florida? No thanks! Beautiful but DEADLY! Not long ago at Disney a gator grabbed a tiny child, and was gone. I don't think they ever found the child.

We had a gator in the pond at work, and you'd see 'em in the drainage canals that line most of the major roads. I told the story about the visitor from the UK whose kids were chunking rocks at an alligator and trying to poke it with a stick. "Excuse me, sir. That animal - is it dangerous?" he asks me. Uh, if you're fond of those kids, get them away from "that animal".

Ah, coral snakes. "Red next to black, safe for Jack. Red next to yellow, kill a fellow" is the mnemonic for distinguishing between the coral snake and other banded snakes like the king snake. The one I saw, I decided I didn't need to inspect that closely. A sad story: One of my co-workers in SoFla was a scout master for his son's Boy Scout troop. The troop was out camping one weekend, and he sent one of the scouts to gather some firewood. The kid found a pile wood lying around near the campsite. He reached in there to grab a piece, and came up with a coral snake attached to each hand. There was nothing the Scoutmaster could do; the kid was dead in minutes. The guilt haunted him the rest of his life.

Florida has huge constrictors there now. Those that can wrap and swallow adults,children,pets.

You used to be able to get boa constrictors in the pet stores. When people found out they grow to be 10 feet long and weigh about 100 lbs., some of them decided that wasn't a good idea after all and to "humanely" release them into into the Everglades. What's worse was stuff that smugglers bring in for exotic pets, like anacondas from South America or Burmese pythons. They also ended up in the Everglades, which is a VERY hospitable environment for tropical snakes.

 

[Jack]

We had a gator in the pond at work, and you'd see 'em in the drainage canals that line most of the major roads. I told the story about the visitor from the UK whose kids were chunking rocks at an alligator and trying to poke it with a stick. "Excuse me, sir. That animal - is it dangerous?" he asks me. Uh, if you're fond of those kids, get them away from "that animal".

Ah, coral snakes. "Red next to black, safe for Jack. Red next to yellow, kill a fellow" is the mnemonic for distinguishing between the coral snake and other banded snakes like the king snake. The one I saw, I decided I didn't need to inspect that closely. A sad story: One of my co-workers in SoFla was a scout master for his son's Boy Scout troop. The troop was out camping one weekend, and he sent one of the scouts to gather some firewood. The kid found a pile wood lying around near the campsite. He reached in there to grab a piece, and came up with a coral snake attached to each hand. There was nothing the Scoutmaster could do; the kid was dead in minutes. The guilt haunted him the rest of his life.

How horrible!

You used to be able to get boa constrictors in the pet stores. When people found out they grow to be 10 feet long and weigh about 100 lbs., some of them decided that wasn't a good idea after all and decided to release them into into the Everglades. What's worse was stuff that smugglers bring in for exotic pets, like anacondas from South America or Burmese pythons. They also ended up in the Everglades, which is a VERY hospitable environment for them.

We used to have fairs where I grew up. They would sell baby gators, TINY things! When they got bigger people didn't know what to do with them so they flushed them or threw them in ponds. One guy in Illinois was swimming in a pond and got attacked by a gator. It broke his arm but he got away. In Illinois!!!

 

[Jack]

We had a gator in the pond at work, and you'd see 'em in the drainage canals that line most of the major roads. I told the story about the visitor from the UK whose kids were chunking rocks at an alligator and trying to poke it with a stick. "Excuse me, sir. That animal - is it dangerous?" he asks me. Uh, if you're fond of those kids, get them away from "that animal".

Ah, coral snakes. "Red next to black, safe for Jack. Red next to yellow, kill a fellow" is the mnemonic for distinguishing between the coral snake and other banded snakes like the king snake. The one I saw, I decided I didn't need to inspect that closely. A sad story: One of my co-workers in SoFla was a scout master for his son's Boy Scout troop. The troop was out camping one weekend, and he sent one of the scouts to gather some firewood. The kid found a pile wood lying around near the campsite. He reached in there to grab a piece, and came up with a coral snake attached to each hand. There was nothing the Scoutmaster could do; the kid was dead in minutes. The guilt haunted him the rest of his life.


You used to be able to get boa constrictors in the pet stores. When people found out they grow to be 10 feet long and weigh about 100 lbs., some of them decided that wasn't a good idea after all and to "humanely" release them into into the Everglades. What's worse was stuff that smugglers bring in for exotic pets, like anacondas from South America or Burmese pythons. They also ended up in the Everglades, which is a VERY hospitable environment for tropical snakes.

I don't like serpents at all. lol

 

[ProverbsInPink]

We had a gator in the pond at work, and you'd see 'em in the drainage canals that line most of the major roads. I told the story about the visitor from the UK whose kids were chunking rocks at an alligator and trying to poke it with a stick. "Excuse me, sir. That animal - is it dangerous?" he asks me. Uh, if you're fond of those kids, get them away from "that animal".

Ah, coral snakes. "Red next to black, safe for Jack. Red next to yellow, kill a fellow" is the mnemonic for distinguishing between the coral snake and other banded snakes like the king snake. The one I saw, I decided I didn't need to inspect that closely. A sad story: One of my co-workers in SoFla was a scout master for his son's Boy Scout troop. The troop was out camping one weekend, and he sent one of the scouts to gather some firewood. The kid found a pile wood lying around near the campsite. He reached in there to grab a piece, and came up with a coral snake attached to each hand. There was nothing the Scoutmaster could do; the kid was dead in minutes. The guilt haunted him the rest of his life.


You used to be able to get boa constrictors in the pet stores. When people found out they grow to be 10 feet long and weigh about 100 lbs., some of them decided that wasn't a good idea after all and to "humanely" release them into into the Everglades. What's worse was stuff that smugglers bring in for exotic pets, like anacondas from South America or Burmese pythons. They also ended up in the Everglades, which is a VERY hospitable environment for tropical snakes.

giant constrictor snakes in Florida - Google Search

I don't know how anyone releases giant constrictor snakes into the wild.
Maybe it's easy because they don't live there.

And now those poor creatures and the local communities are suffering the consequences.

 

[Debp]

One guy in Illinois was swimming in a pond and got attacked by a gator. It broke his arm but he got away. In Illinois!!!

Reminds me of our Reggie the Alligator in a lake by Los Angeles. He was (rarely) seen but no one could catch him as the lake was large. Alligator hunters were coming. They even thought they'd get Steve Irwin to come.

Two years went by. Finally Reggie was seen sunning himself on the shore. So they finally caught him...he was six and a half feet long. Took him to the Los Angeles Zoo where he still lives. News crews went crazy with the story.

Shortly after Reggie arrived at the zoo, employees arriving in the morning found him walking across the employee parking lot!!! He had crawled out of his pond enclosure....they built him a new one.

Reggie (alligator) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Jack]

Reminds me of our Reggie the Alligator in a lake by Los Angeles. He was (rarely) seen but no one could catch him as the lake was large. Alligator hunters were coming. They even thought they'd get Steve Irwin to come.

Two years went by. Finally Reggie was seen sunning himself on the shore. So they finally caught him...he was six and a half feet long. Took him to the Los Angeles Zoo where he still lives. News crews went crazy with the story.

Shortly after Reggie arrived at the zoo, employees arriving in the morning found him walking across the employee parking lot!!! He had crawled out of his pond enclosure....they built him a new one.

Reggie (alligator) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I lived in Orlando as a kid. They had an "alligator farm". There were hundreds of HUGE gators. Most of them looked like they were sleeping. They were even FAT, so they were eating well! I wonder what they fed them and how much it cost.

 

[Jack]

Reminds me of our Reggie the Alligator in a lake by Los Angeles. He was (rarely) seen but no one could catch him as the lake was large. Alligator hunters were coming. They even thought they'd get Steve Irwin to come.

Two years went by. Finally Reggie was seen sunning himself on the shore. So they finally caught him...he was six and a half feet long. Took him to the Los Angeles Zoo where he still lives. News crews went crazy with the story.

Shortly after Reggie arrived at the zoo, employees arriving in the morning found him walking across the employee parking lot!!! He had crawled out of his pond enclosure....they built him a new one.

Reggie (alligator) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Reggie was a "media sensation"! lol

 

[Naomanos]

We had a gator in the pond at work, and you'd see 'em in the drainage canals that line most of the major roads. I told the story about the visitor from the UK whose kids were chunking rocks at an alligator and trying to poke it with a stick. "Excuse me, sir. That animal - is it dangerous?" he asks me. Uh, if you're fond of those kids, get them away from "that animal".

Ah, coral snakes. "Red next to black, safe for Jack. Red next to yellow, kill a fellow" is the mnemonic for distinguishing between the coral snake and other banded snakes like the king snake. The one I saw, I decided I didn't need to inspect that closely. A sad story: One of my co-workers in SoFla was a scout master for his son's Boy Scout troop. The troop was out camping one weekend, and he sent one of the scouts to gather some firewood. The kid found a pile wood lying around near the campsite. He reached in there to grab a piece, and came up with a coral snake attached to each hand. There was nothing the Scoutmaster could do; the kid was dead in minutes. The guilt haunted him the rest of his life.


You used to be able to get boa constrictors in the pet stores. When people found out they grow to be 10 feet long and weigh about 100 lbs., some of them decided that wasn't a good idea after all and to "humanely" release them into into the Everglades. What's worse was stuff that smugglers bring in for exotic pets, like anacondas from South America or Burmese pythons. They also ended up in the Everglades, which is a VERY hospitable environment for tropical snakes.

You can still buy boas at reptile expos and off the internet. I got mine at an expo. She will never grow to 10 foot, but she will be about six foot. She’s 4 foot now. I also have three ball pythons, four leopard geckos, two bearded dragons, two different types of monitors, two red foot tortoises and five tarantulas, one being my fiancés that she keeps with me. I also have a dog and will have five cats once my fiance and I are married in February.

Green anacondas and the larger python species like the Burmese are banned in Florida now.

 

[Jack]

You can still buy boas at reptile expos and off the internet. I got mine at an expo. She will never grow to 10 foot, but she will be about six foot. She’s 4 foot now. I also have three ball pythons, four leopard geckos, two bearded dragons, two different types of monitors, two red foot tortoises and five tarantulas, one being my fiancés that she keeps with me. I also have a dog and will have five cats once my fiance and I are married in February.

Green anacondas and the larger python species like the Burmese are banned in Florida now.

Brave lady!

 

[Jack]

I can't begin to imagine what's in Lake Okeechobee.

 

[Lambano]

I can't begin to imagine what's in Lake Okeechobee.

Another co-worker in Florida had a picture on the wall of his office. He and his son had gone fishing out in the Everglades in a little jon boat. The picture was taken close to sunset, and shows 17 red pairs of alligator eyes just above the water-line reflecting the flash. Eerie.

 

[Naomanos]

Brave lady!

That she is!

She would tell you that never in a million years did she think she would have her own tarantula and be able to hold all kinds of snakes and lizards before she met me.

 

[Jack]

Another co-worker in Florida had a picture on the wall of his office. He and his son had gone fishing out in the Everglades in a little jon boat. The picture was taken close to sunset, and shows 17 red pairs of alligator eyes just above the water-line reflecting the flash. Eerie.

He's braver than me! Remember the Value Jet plane crash in the Everglades? I don't think they found any bodies.