How big of snake problem does florida have?
 

The family and I are headed down to captiva island in about 6 weeks. I keep seeing reports of these huge snakes swimming to these island and over running them. Is this really that big of a problem?

The bugs and alligators pretty much keep the snake population in check :). It's not the right time of year, but visit that area when the "no see-ums" are swarming (say Oct.), and you'd welcome some big 'ole snakes instead. Seriously, don't worry...

Lived in Fla all my life, I've seen 3 poisonous snakes in the wild. A few more - but not tons - non-poisonous ones.

I may not be a good benchmark though - in over 100 saltwater dives I've not seen a shark in the wild...

Jaws
 

Oh great...now I am going to be humming the theme music from Jaws for the rest of the day. ;)

When I lived down there I only ever saw two really big ones. The rest are little grass snakes and stuff, and they're not even all that common.

You'll see lots of those little brown lizards darting all over the place - they're harmless (I think).

What Ben is referring to is the fact that people who bought Reticulated Pythons to have as pets have been releasing them into the canals and swamp areas when they get too big to keep... for the last decade or so... and they have been thriving... they're coming into residential areas, too... 20-footers have been captured with 15 lb. housecats in their bellies. Some have even made the 6-mile swim over to the first Key.

It's a problem that's not going away. There was a full hour show on it on Discovery or Nat Geo.

Ben, if you're gonna be out in the wild, get yourself a big hunting knife and sheath and keep the blade real sharp... make sure you get one with a serrated/saw edge on the opposite side of the blade. If one grabs you or a member of your family, just saw his head off.

Apparently you've never seen Byron in a speedo.

Edit: That came out gayer than I expected...

Giant Pythons Could Spread Quickly Across South
 

Giant Pythons Invade Florida
AFP

May 16, 2008 -- Giant pythons capable of swallowing a dog and even an alligator are rapidly making south Florida their home, potentially threatening other southeastern states, a study said.

"Pythons are likely to colonize anywhere alligators live, including north Florida, Georgia and Louisiana," said Frank Mazzotti, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences professor, in his two-year study.

The pythons thriving in Florida are mostly Burmese pythons from Myanmar that were brought over as pets and then turned loose in the wild.

From 2002-2005, 201 of the beasts were caught by state authorities, but in the last two years the number has more than doubled to 418, Mazzotti said in his study published on the university Web site.

The largest python caught so far in Florida measured 16.4 feet and weighed 154 pounds.

Mazzotti said the serpents, despite their awesome size, are not poisonous, but are excellent swimmers and able to cover great distances in little time. Some, trapped and released with radio transmitters, swam 37 miles in a few hours.

Highly adaptable, pythons prey on cats, dogs, hares, foxes, squirrels, raccoons and even alligators, allowing them to thrive in a variety of environments.

After populating the Florida Everglades -- a vast marshland -- where it is estimated they number 30,000, the giant python is now spreading across the rest of the peninsula.

"Females may store sperm, so they can produce fertile clutches for years. And a 100-something pound snake can easily be producing 60, 80 eggs a year," said Mazzotti, adding that the reptile could eventually populate the entire southern United States.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/16/giant-python-florida.html

Snake The other white meat. :p

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,easy_snake,FF.html

not even close to an issue in Captiva. Enjoy your time - captiva and sanibel are to of my favorite places. The everglades and south Florida - yeah. Although as cold as it has been here - they may decide this isn't such a great place.

Coffee out the nose on that one - especially after reading your signature line!

angela

saw that same show. even had a story with film of one that ruptered trying to eat a 7 ft alligator....

Stay away from this place.

"average of 22 cottonmouths on every palm tree-covered acre"

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070416-cottonmouth.html

Not that there is anything wrong with that!

Gheeze guys try to keep up.

Me too...last night... got my attention, but even more scary is the huge population of gators.

Nice... I am interested in hearing how your trip goes.

We have a place rented in Sanibel for next December.

Bill

Come to Florida and bring plenty of money to spend.


Just don't drive like an idiot.

That reminds me, we are heading down to St. George Island next week! Anyone have any pompano tips for surf fishing?

There are enough locals already doing that. :D

Ian

I grew up in Virginia and lived in the sticks of NC and I never had the wildlife problem I have now. When we moved here I thought it was a great deal to have found a house on a nature preserve. Little did I know every damn animal in the state lived there? I have a herd of deer (if that’s correct) that eat every thing planted. At least 2 armadillos are tearing up my grass every night!!! I see a fox about every week (I think it’s the same one). More scorpions than I care to mention, although they only sting like a wasp if one gets you :). We have tons of opossum that will get into anything.

Lets see, oh and the snakes, I have to deal with about 6-7 a year and only 2 cottonmouths last year. Unfortunately both of them were in my garage (RIP). The rest were 6 foot black racers that can run faster than me and are ultra aggressive and don’t like me mowing the yard when they are sunbathing!!! It’s a freakin zoo here!!!

BUT………where your going, I seriously doubt you will run into any of that.

Here is some of what I deal with

Cottonmouth in my garage
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1233889202.jpg

Big a$$ lizard in my garage - its hard to tell the scale but its in a 5 gal bucket. (remember the pooping lizard thread)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1233889300.jpg

Some dear in broad daylight
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1233889341.jpg

This guy is my friend - he helps with the smaller stuff
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1233889384.jpg

They maybe locals now but at one time they were from Canada.;)

Big Snakes they will give you good practice for when the Zombies come.:D

Spent a bunch of time in Florida as a kid I loved all the critters I ran across even the snakes however they did not weigh 156 Lbs. Yikes !

Ill trade the Grizzlies Bear's here for your snakes !

Gators are fine except in mating season. I kayak and see gators all the time. They dislike us more than we dislike them. What's stupid is the people that will feed them off the docks and such. Then they lose their fear of humans. They love to eat dogs.

The biggest one I have seen was close to 14 feet long. Once they get above 10 feet, they look absolutely pre-historic - their heads get Huge.

<embed src="http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/1245652/big_freekin_gator.swf" width="400" height="345" wmode="transparent" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true"> </embed><br><font size = 1><a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1245652/big_freekin_gator/">Big Freekin Gator!</a> - <a href="http://www.metacafe.com/">Click here for this week’s top video clips</a></font>

A girlfriend of many moons ago lost her dad to a gator in/near Arcadia, FL. Admittedly, he was doing something stupid: swimming in a canal. It hit him within seconds after he jumped in... he got away and got out, one arm barely attached by a few ligaments.

His 13-yr. old daughter who was with him was pressed into service to drive him to the hospital. The doctors couldn't save the arm and had to amputate, but he died within 24 hrs. when the site of the injury threw a clot and it went to his heart.

2 years in Miami, and I only saw a few snakes once...after a hurricane when the entire city was 3 feet underwater. Never saw one other than that.

Gators? Hourly, if you're driving around. Sometimes several within 5 minutes. But no snakes.

Ben,
You and your family will love Captiva, beautiful place!

I saw about a 10' gator last week on the side of the road. They can be freaky to see something that look so big, ugly and alive just sitting out in the open.

I don't think black racers are dangerous except to other snakes. They pretend to be aggressive by charging at you when they feel threatened but supposedly that's a defensive measure rather than an offensive move. If you stand your ground they would probably stop.

Of course, this is very easy for me to sit in the comfy chair and type "probably" on the keyboard. You're the one who has the pissed off snake running at you! :D

When I lived in Jax, all of our apt's unfenced holding ponds had 5-6 foot gators lounging around, and I've seen quite a few while bass fishing in the lower St. John's and surrounding lakes. But NOTHING compares to what a buddy and I saw when we rented a boat and went out in the Okefenokee Swamp many years ago. Gators literally by the hundreds out lounging around, sunning themselves and waiting for a snack :)...

Your lizard is a skink. When I lived there in Pinellas county, it seemed everything was trying to kill you. Sharks in the gulf, gators and coyotes everywhere. I came on upon a 12 gator one night that had been hit by a car crossing the road. Out of curiosity and stupidity, I pulled up next to him. Now I was driving a Jag XJS at the time and I swear he was as long as the car. Man that was one pissed and very big lizard, it was like a dinosaur. Living here in PA now, the most vicious thing we have here on my land is a black bear, and he is pretty timid.

I drive across Alligator Alley several times per year. If you have driven it, you know that it is exceedingly boring with only one bend in the road . . .

As entertainment, I count the gators in the canals as I drive by. My current record is 25 on one drive from Naples to Lauderdale last year. The light - late afternoon - was just right.

Ian

Sounds really cool except for the venomous snakes and scorpions. I think that's a "skink".

I forgot about that part of my trip through the Okefenokee. We were returning home and I had a new '87 Supra Turbo that was just nicely broken in. Targa top off, a LONG stretch of blacktop through the swamp, total desolation, then an impromptu "let's see what she'll do". I had her up to 140 mph (still 1000 rpms below redline) and then the thought of a gator sunning in the middle of the road brought me to my senses and I backed off. Young and dumb...but I'm still here :)

I probably don't need to tell you this, but black bears are not to be taken lightly... they are just as dangerous as Grizzlies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America_by_dec ade

Get used to it Ben, Wisconsin is going to be the new Florida in the next 10 years

Black racers are the most aggressive snake I have ever come across. I'm not scared of most snakes but the black racers I will give a wide berth.

I had a 6ft one across the street at a neighbors porch. It literally chased me across the street lunging at me as it went. I screamed like a little girl.

Last year we went to cape san blas Which is buetiful(stayed in a house right on the beach) but this year sanabil . I was just wondering if it was full of snakes as this is my least favorite animal and did not want to spend my whole time worrying about the kids getting bit

I keep a shotgun by the door. My dogs are either fearless or stupid so I'm sure I will have to rescue them someday.

I just had a vision of that.....pretty funny stuff. Anybody get that on tape?