Undercover_Man

Hi! Ok...I was wondering something. I love animals of all kinds but when it comes to spiders and snakes I get nervous. I'd like to pick them up and relocate them but I don't feel like dying cause I got bit. That would be a gh3y way to die. I don't know which are dangerous. Now when ppl say that a certain one is dangerous do they mean poisonous or that they'll bite you easily or both?

Now I live in Collierville, TN which is right next to Memphis in the lower left corner of TN. As for spiders, are there any that are dangerous to humans? Are there a lot? Are all the deadly ones the big huge fury scary ones or can they be small harmless looking ones? Is there a book I could get that'd give me info on it if I were to whip it out when I saw a spider? I've held spiders before but only the teeny tiny ones. Just let it crawl wherever it wanted to onmy hand and arm and left it on another tree away from where I was working.

And for the snakes, I don't think I'd pick them up with my hands but with a stick maybe. I actually wouldn't mind being bitten by one either just as long as I was certain that it wasn't poisonous and dangerous to humans. I've heard that there are very few dangerous ones in TN where I live. Is that true? Is there a book where I could just look in it if I Saw one and ID it?

I like animals and don't really wanna kill them (cept for the birds that crap on my car). If I could only ID whether or not the spider or snake I see isn't poisonous and/or dangerous to humans then I wouldn't mind picking them up and putting them in the forest near our house or by the pond where we fish. Only thing stopping me is the fear of being poisoned by one or dangerous. THANKS

- Undercover Man

Phage

In the same way there are bird and fish identification books, there are snake and spider books. Getting these books is probably a good investment. There are probably only a few spiders that are dangerous in your area, and they should be well known. Ask around; for instance in Georgia we pretty much only have to worry about the Black Widow and Brown Recluse. Snakes are a little easier; look out for a diamond-shaped head which is the trademark of a viper. Cottonmouth, rattlesnake, copperhead, its all the same. The exception is the coral snake, which is pretty easy to ID. "Red touches yellow, kill a fellow."

I highly advise getting a snake and spider book before you pick up something you don't recognise. You will probably see the same few species in your area, which are probably harmless, but it is the exception which is the most dangerous.

Pellaz

Generaly speaking, venomous snakes have slit pupils and non venomous have round pupils. It looks like there are only four common venomous snakes in TN.
http://frogsandsnakes.homestead.com/snakes.html


Couldn't readily find anything on the spiders commonly found in TN, but there are really only 6-7 hazard species of spiders found in the states, so if you learn those, you should be reasonably safe.

http://www.rochedalss.eq.edu.au/spider/spider1.htm

Spiders are very helpful little beasties, so if you're finding them outside, it's probably best to just tip your hat to them and move along.

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platypus

Err on the safe side. Leave them all alone.

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hrdwareguy

First, all snakes and spiders are capable of biting you, not all are poisonous.

To add to what Pellaz Said regarding snakes:

Venomous snakes in your area will all have 3 common features
1) the will have a triangel shaped head
2) they will have cat like eyes (slits instead of round)
3) They will have facial pits under the eyes.

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Phage

To add to what hrdwareguy added to what Pellaz said regarding snakes:

Venomous snakes in your area will all have 3 common features
1) They will have a triangular or diamond shaped head.
2) Too close!
3) Way too close!!

Undercover_Man

Thanx for the linx...guess what I did...I captured a spider on a fly swatter and decided to let it go...I went out the back door and saw all these ants walking from one flower bed to the other and their trail went right next to the brick step...an evil red light went off and decided to drop the spider off right in the middle of the ant trail...but before I did that I blew on them a few times to piss them off...then I dropped the spider and they took all their anger out on the spider...they attacked its legs and then they swarmed it...the spider was trying to get away but the amount of pissed off ants there were was too much for the spider to handle...it got eaten...crawled up in a ball and turned upside-down and died...what a pussy... ...pretty interesting...didn't think anything would happen actually...

I only harm insects...like these annoying flies and mosquitoes...I smashed one with a button that fell off a shirt and it left a bloody spot...lol...

Anyone know of this one insect that I found in the rose garden...it was kinda long and brown and small and had two claws that dug like a mole...and it was damn strong...put it in my hand and it had a lot of pressure against my fingers...it could even dig out the end of my hand...didn't bite...had no stinger...a nice little insect...they're cool...only ran into them twice tho...wish I knew what it was...

amonkie

Ok, if you're close enough to SEE the pupils of a snake, you're too close, at least in my opinion




I had a spider that lived in the corner of my dorm room for six months. Never had a single insect problem the entire time I was there. Our agreement was I wouldn't squash him if he ate the bugs and stayed on the ceiling or top corner of the wall

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frozenstellar

well, had've you been in australia, i would've just told you not to mess with any snake or spider, too many nasty bastards to mess with!

shakran

there are plenty of nasty bastards in Tenn in the snake world. You have two species of rattlers, plus copperheads and cottonmouths.

On the other hand you probably have a couple dozen non-poisonous snakes.

The thing is, even the non-poisonous snakes can cause problems because they'll still bite you and the bite can become infected - in addition to the fact that it hurts like hell. I tend to leave 'em alone unless there's no choice, and then I either scoop 'em into a box and move 'em where I want 'em or, if they're vipers, I kill 'em.

gorilla

are the claw things stickin out the ass of the beast? if so, it might be an earwig... I have alot of those around my parts

EDIT: when I say I have those in my parts, I mean that those bugs live in my area... I dont mean they live in parts literally, I try to keep them nice and tidy but that belongs on a different thread

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Mephisto2

You made me laugh.


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mystix

for the eastern USA, all venomous snakes have slit eyelids. However, this is only for the east.