Spiders AND snakes

[Quillback]

Had a close encounter today, thought Vernon would enjoy this.  @vernon

This afternoon I went out for a walk at one of the parks here in Bella Vista.  It has an out of service access road that goes uphill at a fairly steep incline, leads to the top of an earthen dam that backs up a lake called Loch Lomond.  I will do about 3 miles and will walk up and down that hill a few times to get my heart going.

There's a gravel road that runs the length of the dam, maybe about a 1/2 mile in length.  I'll walk it to one end then back to the other end.  The tire tracks are gravel with some old blacktop, there's grass in the middle of the road and about a 10 foot strip on each side.  The sides and side strips are kept mowed, but on the lake side of the dam it is chunk rock with weedy type vegetation and on the land side of the dam it is basically a steep slope covered with thick, weedy growth.  

So I am walking the dam today and see a big spider cross the track in front of me.  I would get close to it as I want to check it out and the darn thing would come after me, it would kind of hop a few inches at a time coming towards my foot.  I have never seen a spider that aggressive before.  It did let me get close enough to get a good look at it, and darned if it didn't have some baby spiders riding on its back.  Never seen this before, so when I got home I did a search on "spiders with babies on back"  and it turns out it was a wolf spider.  According to the experts it is the only spider in the US that carries its babies around like that.  I didn't squash it, couldn't kill a mama with her babies, and I had some respect for a critter that would take on something that outweighs it probably about 10,000 times.

So now about the snake - I start walking down the trail again, and maybe get about 100 yards, hear something move in the grass, look down and a bit to my right and see a snake dart into the weeds.  It couldn't have been more than a couple of feet from my leg when it seemed to almost jump up and zip into the weeds.  I only got about a 1 second look at it, but I am convinced it was a cottonmouth.  Had that fat body with a skinny short tail section and the skin coloration those things have.  And it was a good sized one, I'm guessing at least 3 feet long and bulky.  

I was fortunate it didn't go for my leg, because I never saw it until it took off.  And it was pretty cool today, I think it was about 60 degrees when I saw that snake, but it sure didn't act sluggish at all.  It must've been out in the short grass sunning itself until I came along.

I have spend a lot of time outdoors and have seen some venomous snakes, but never have I had one that close to me (that I know of) where I thought it could've got me if it had wanted to.  One more step and I would've been within inches.

[Sore Thumbs]

I don’t kill spiders either unless they are brown recluse. They are nature’s best bug killers. My wife gets mad when I find one in the house and let it go outside. Snakes don’t bother me much either. I’m usually trying to pick them up and move them. Copperheads are a different deal though. Glad you didn’t get bit today. 

[magicwormman]

1 hour ago, Quillback said:

Had a close encounter today, thought Vernon would enjoy this.  @vernon

This afternoon I went out for a walk at one of the parks here in Bella Vista.  It has an out of service access road that goes uphill at a fairly steep incline, leads to the top of an earthen dam that backs up a lake called Loch Lomond.  I will do about 3 miles and will walk up and down that hill a few times to get my heart going.

There's a gravel road that runs the length of the dam, maybe about a 1/2 mile in length.  I'll walk it to one end then back to the other end.  The tire tracks are gravel with some old blacktop, there's grass in the middle of the road and about a 10 foot strip on each side.  The sides and side strips are kept mowed, but on the lake side of the dam it is chunk rock with weedy type vegetation and on the land side of the dam it is basically a steep slope covered with thick, weedy growth.  

So I am walking the dam today and see a big spider cross the track in front of me.  I would get close to it as I want to check it out and the darn thing would come after me, it would kind of hop a few inches at a time coming towards my foot.  I have never seen a spider that aggressive before.  It did let me get close enough to get a good look at it, and darned if it didn't have some baby spiders riding on its back.  Never seen this before, so when I got home I did a search on "spiders with babies on back"  and it turns out it was a wolf spider.  According to the experts it is the only spider in the US that carries its babies around like that.  I didn't squash it, couldn't kill a mama with her babies, and I had some respect for a critter that would take on something that outweighs it probably about 10,000 times.

So now about the snake - I start walking down the trail again, and maybe get about 100 yards, hear something move in the grass, look down and a bit to my right and see a snake dart into the weeds.  It couldn't have been more than a couple of feet from my leg when it seemed to almost jump up and zip into the weeds.  I only got about a 1 second look at it, but I am convinced it was a cottonmouth.  Had that fat body with a skinny short tail section and the skin coloration those things have.  And it was a good sized one, I'm guessing at least 3 feet long and bulky.  

I was fortunate it didn't go for my leg, because I never saw it until it took off.  And it was pretty cool today, I think it was about 60 degrees when I saw that snake, but it sure didn't act sluggish at all.  It must've been out in the short grass sunning itself until I came along.

I have spend a lot of time outdoors and have seen some venomous snakes, but never have I had one that close to me (that I know of) where I thought it could've got me if it had wanted to.  One more step and I would've been within inches.

If only the bass would be as aggressive!

[Johnsfolly]

Ok @Quillback i could not help but read your post with the Jim Stafford song going on in my head😌. 

[tjm]

Ive seen copperheads out mid winter when temps in mid-high 30s and snow within a foot of them, in the ledges of cedar glades, where sun hit early in the day and warmed the rock, I believe that I smell venomous snakes before I see them sometimes. I know I have been way too close to several and so far very lucky.  I like gumboots in those areas.

[m&m]

Quill, I’d find a new walking path. Just sayin...

Mike

[Quillback]

9 hours ago, Johnsfolly said:

Ok @Quillback i could not help but read your post with the Jim Stafford song going on in my head😌. 

Kind of an inspiration for my title.  And that is now an OLD song, I think it came out when I was in high school. @Johnsfolly

 

[dblades]

5 hours ago, tjm said:

Ive seen copperheads out mid winter when temps in mid-high 30s and snow within a foot of them, in the ledges of cedar glades, where sun hit early in the day and warmed the rock, I believe that I smell venomous snakes before I see them sometimes. I know I have been way too close to several and so far very lucky.  I like gumboots in those areas.

My granddad always said he could smell copperheads, me I don't even try.

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, dblades said:

My granddad always said he could smell copperheads, me I don't even try.

@BilletHead smells them.  He had a little nest a while back I remember.  

[snagged in outlet 3]

Spiders and snakes pfft!  I was on a job site in Savannah Tuesday and we had pipe on the ground near the river.  They would heat up during the day and at night the gators loved to crawl inside the warm pipes. They ran off a 12’er Monday.  The locals act like it’s no big deal.