Who has a major issue with Garter snakes - or any midwestern snake - scaring the beejeebis out of you while push mowing a lawn ?
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Snakes
- Thread starter kwik44
- Start date
I always hated stacking hay bales and have a bull snake come out at me. My father would grab a bull snake and take it to the nearest gopher hole.
I look forward to seeing them in the summer. They are good for the garden. Have to admit was startled several times by bull snakes while crossing a pastures though. (As well as a few pheasants 
Snakes have never bothered me...but spiders? That's another ball game.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Snakes have always bothered me. At least here in central Iowa, I no longer see copperheads in the yard, water moccasins around the creeks and rivers, or rattlesnakes crossing the hiking trail. Although I've been told they have seen rattlesnakes in Ledges State Park.
There are rattlers in Iowa but very reclusive. There was an article in Iowa Outdoors awhile back and IIRC the last human injury by a rattler in Iowa was 100+ years ago.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
"Snakes, I 'effin hate em"- what Indy should've said to Jock about his pet snake Reggie in the plane.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Posted from Rivals Mobile
I hate snakes. I don't care how good they are for gardens. They freak me out everytime. Spiders as well but in Iowa they aren't bad. In CA my cable guy was under my house in the crawl space and came out with like 20 Black widows hanging off him. He was dancing all around the yard.
Was thinking about that the other day.
Place is terrible anymore and I miss it circa 2006.
With the help of everyone, we can bring back the days of yore.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Is that what caused Fords crash today? Was there mother#$#$ snakes on his mother#$#$ plane?!!Originally posted by ANYCHawk:
Are there many rattlesnakes in Iowa? I grew up in Cedar Falls and never saw one, nor ever knew they existed in Iowa.
I'm not sure "many" is the term I would use, but they aren't' incredibly rare from my understanding. Timber rattlers can be found in far NE Iowa in the rocks of Yellow River State Forest and similar areas. A good friend in the Van Meter area in Central Iowa is an outdoor enthusiast and claims a presence in that part of the state as well. I do know they are reclusive and sightings by happenstance are uncommon.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Hime, when I was a kid in Cedar Falls there were rattlers (I'm an old dog). For example, there was an old log cabin in what is now Hartman Reserve, and there was a big colony under the cabin; we used to go over there to see them every summer, poking a stick under the cabin to hear them buzz. There were all kinds of snakes back then; blue racers lived on the slope by our driveway. We had five acres and once I went around and counted the garter snakes and there were about fifty. Sad they're all gone; mostly loss of habitat, but people killing them out of ignorant fear is part of it too... some people should just stay inside.
There is a population of prairie rattlers up here in the western part of Plymouth County in the Loess Hills. Done lots of hiking in that area, but have never come across one. You would have heard me if I did.
Iowa prairie rattlesnakes
Iowa prairie rattlesnakes
I was part of a large scale remodel in a house just up river from Hartman. The house was gutted and essentially completely rebuilt (I think it was a 7 figure project, which for a remodel in this area is a ridiculous amount of money). Anyway, when the old soffit was removed, it was crawling with garter snakes. Almost movie-esque in numbers. /csb
Posted from Rivals Mobile
One other thing Accipiter...I go to Hartman's pancake breakfast every year and I am pretty sure there are still a few timber rattlers in the area.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Posted from Rivals Mobile
After watching that gif I feel like I need to shower. If I ever come across that many snakes I would grab a jug of gasoline and a lighter and watch those bastards squirm. Yuck!
You Iowa snakes list.
3 type of rattlers, all very very rare nowadays.
http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=45
Thanks. I don't remember the article I read emphasizing the rarity, but I don't read so good.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
These bull snakes in the NW metro are going to give me a heart attack.. they look like the real deal
