Snakes and other things to look out for

[Buckleup]

A question for those of you that winter in mid to lower Texas. We will be traveling with our 2 dogs and are wondering about poisonous snakes and other critters that can hurt humans and dogs. Any info will help.

[Thunder_Mountai]

I'm always worried more about the things that walk on two feet. Critters that creep, crawl, slither or walk haven't bothered us in 40+ years of hiking, biking, skiing, ATVing, Jeeping or sleep walking. Less than half of those were in Texas however. Don't know what new things have appeared there since we left.

[APRSRVer]

We winter in TX and I agree that coyotes are probably more of a threat to your dogs than snakes or scorpions. They are pretty brazen and encroach on inhabited areas. I've seen them come out of the brush at full run and grab a cat very quickly. If you're in a larger town, you'll be OK. It's the more rural areas (like state parks) to be careful of.

[2gypsies1]

Don/Shar - the snake is impressive. However, being a gate guard puts you really out in the boonies. Typical RVers are not going to be staying in those areas. Snakes don't like lots of activity around them. In a typical Texas RV park you're not going to be in those situations.

[Don_Shar]

Buckleup wrote:
Thanks for all the good advice! We have a bagel (Basset Beagle mix) and a Basset who are part of the family and don't want anything to happen to them. The conservation department in Missouri has some really great posters of local wild life and we are hoping that Texas has posters for identification of snakes and such also.

FYI the safety man at the oil rig told us to spread moth balls around the step of our motorhome. Rattlesnakes won't come near the moth balls. It must help because we have never seen one close to our rig. Altogether I killed 6 and seen at least 20 but none real close to our rig. You can get a rattlesnake shot for your dog....it is expensive.

[Buckleup]

Thanks for all the good advice! We have a bagel (Basset Beagle mix) and a Basset who are part of the family and don't want anything to happen to them. The conservation department in Missouri has some really great posters of local wild life and we are hoping that Texas has posters for identification of snakes and such also.

[Don_Shar]

Here is a rattlesnake that scared to bejubies out of one morning by Artisia Wells, Tx


He had 16 rattles...now I have them.

and he decorates my hat.


We are working as Gate Guards at an oil well site, I took the covers off of our tires when we went to move and they were full of Scorpions. Be careful, I had never seen that many scorpions at one time.

[Superbee_Jim]

We normally see or hear about 1 smaller Rattlesnake in our park each year, but I have seen only 1 scorpion when we were developing our lot about 7-8 years ago. We are on the outskirts of Mission near Palmview, Tx in Martins Leisure Valley.

[pa_traveler]

Any scorpions?

[LynnandCarol]

This is our 4th. winter in the Tx. Costal bend and we have never seen any snakes during the winter.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Fire ants aren't critters.

They are the children of the devil's minions.

First think in our external storage is a good fire ant poison.

[2gypsies1]

We've lived in Missouri and know that you have just about the same critters as Texas. Just use common sense and you'll be fine. We have never seen 'bad' critters in Texas in the winter. Not to say they're not out there. Just don't let your dogs run loose. However, the ants can be annoying!

[BigBoy11]

Meant to mention to watch out for coyotes if they are smaller dogs. They used to carry off the neighbors small dogs and cats when I lived in Arizona. Isn't nature wonderful?!!

[BigBoy11]

Be sure to carry some Benadryl to administer if they should happen to get bit. My beagles used to get bit by moccasins and copperheads when I lived in Oklahoma and they usually just swell badly around the throat area and have a hard time swallowing anything including water. Corals and rattlers might be a bit more harmful but dogs rarely die from snake bites but they do get pretty ill and the Benadryl will help until you can get them to a vet. Not sure what size dogs you have but just use common sense on the dosage since that is not on the directions as to how much to give dogs!

[skipnchar]

Never seen any in Texas in the winter time. It gets cold enough overnight that they MOSTLY stay under cover but don't go for a walk in a sugar cane field.