Last year, Christmas Day turned out to be a exciting day at the Diller household. The excitement had nothing to do with presents unless you count the 4 1/2-foot Cottonmouth (Water Moccasin) that crawled up to our lanai.
My Dad, who was visiting from Memphis, was sunning on the lanai with the dogs. Suddenly the dogs started barking uncontrollable. He looked and saw a huge snake, put the dogs inside the house and waited for me. Now when I heard about the snake I'm thinking, small garden snake right?
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Wrong! I screamed for my neighbors next door. To make a long story short, Jim and his friend killed the snake, tossed it into the TECO easement where the hawks and the buzzards made a fine feast of it well into the New Year.
I didn't give much thought to the snake again until I received this email Jan. 27 from Lisa Timmer, our Neighborhood Affairs Liaison with the Tampa Police Department:
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Hello Groups, I usually don't send non-crime related info out. I would like to forward info to you that I received from Tampa Fire Rescue - Community Education Unit. Poison Prevention awareness is very important, as well as poisonous snake info (Especially to the New Tampa/Tampa Palms residents due to the heavily wooded areas). This time of year reptiles sun themselves to increase their body temperature. So be careful on bike trails & foot paths. Thanks.
To which I replied, “Hey Lisa - Now you tell me!!! LOL” along with a picture of the snake.
So be careful out there!
For more information on venomous snakes or an excellent resource for poison safety awareness, go to: http://www.poisoncentertampa.org/