Country Trump Card

[BrokenolMarine]

I'd like yo see that, Marine.

RP

I took this with a flash tonight. If you zoom in slightly, you can see at least a half dozen pairs glowing at you...

tarantula eyes.jpg (927.31 KiB) Viewed 142 times

They are staggered down the center. Some nights there are a whole lot more. Maybe I was too early. I'll try when I go out later at night, or when it's darker.

[BrokenolMarine]

try this pic:

tarantula eyes marked.jpg (472.14 KiB) Viewed 142 times

There are a few more in there I didn't mark....

[Hatchdog]

That is wrong in just so many ways. Gives me the creeps. I’m not used to poisonous critters. We have Black Widows and an occasional Brown Recluse. I used to have a resident Black Widow in a sprinkler box at my last place. I would kill it every year and every year there would be another one in the exact place. Never seen a Brown Recluse.

Couldn’t imagine living with all those snakes and spiders some of you folks do. I am pretty pampered up here in the north.

[BrokenolMarine]

The tarantulas actually run if they have room. They will turn aggressive if cornered. However, the poison isn't really bad for humans. The pain is about that of a bee sting. I am more cautious of the scorpions.

Snakes are a different matter. There are a half dozen venomous ones here. We have a LOT of copperheads, a decent amount of rattlers, a see pygmy rattlers a couple times a year. (The worst here.)

[Hatchdog]

I’ve had a couple of rattlesnake encounters both while hunting Chuckars. Both times the snake told me to get out of its space and I complied. You’re the boss sir!

[BrokenolMarine]

Twice Tina has gone down to get the tractor from the barn and found a cottonmouth sleeping in the seat. We pulled the kayak trailer from the barn and found a 6 foot black snake sleeping under one of the kayak storage covers. Him we released unharmed to eat more vermin since they are non-venomous. First year here I went to put a coiled rope on the hose rack in the garage, one of the ropes already there struck at me. Pygmy Rattler. Luckily he was tangled in the actual ropes, and came up short.

Loads of copperheads, but less since the guineas patrol.

We look before we reach.

[dave77]

My friend was down by the creek last Summer and got bit on the top of her foot by a small rattlesnake. I didn't realize how painful the bites are. It was a couple of hours before they got her the first anti-venom shot and she was in extreme pain until then even though they gave her 2 pain shots through her IV. She had to spend the rest of the night in the hospital and they ended up giving her 3 or 4 more anti-venom shots.

Don't see Rattlesnakes too often around here, Bullsnakes are a lot more common. No tarantulas and very seldom scorpions but plenty of Black Widows around.

[BrokenolMarine]

The tarantulas are large enough that you can see them crossing the road when you are driving 45 mph. We live on unlined country roads... all kinds of things will cross in front of you.


Spiders, the battery is for size comparison.

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Snakes, I didn't get too close, they can strike a pretty good distance...

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Roadrunners, this one ran up into the yard when a car passed...

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Then of course the coyotes, the foxes, possums, racoons, armored-dillos... and the rest.
You'll often see cows, horses, and donkeys who have slipped their bonds wander onto the roads. Occasionally even a Bison. I have NOT seen one, but there was a EMU loose in town recently. (Hey, it was on the news.)

[cooperhawk]

I have NOT seen one, but there was a EMU loose in town recently. (Hey, it was on the news.)

OK, I have to tell this story. My late cousin Randy was given some EMU eggs from his sister who raises them. He was supposed to eat them.

Well, anyway, he went to his neighbors garden at night and made a nest of grass and put two of the eggs in it and snuck home.

The next morning the neighbor calls him over to see what he just found in his garden. Randy tells him he had seen a trailer go by the other day with EMU heads sticking out and one must have escaped. Funny, right?

Well, the neighbor calls the news media and they all sent reporters and cameras out to cover the story. It's on TV.

Now Randy tells me he's afraid to tell the neighbor what he did. Well, he passed away and I don't know if he ever told him.

[BrokenolMarine]

You know your Cousin's sister was thinking... "Wait a minute, that's my little brother's neighbor..." Bwah hah hah. "You evil little night crawler."