New hazards in my shop

[Cogsy]

I have no issues with snakes. I come across them from time to time, mainly dugites, tiger snakes and gwardars - reasonably sure they're all in the top20 'deadliest' in the world, but they're not really aggressive. As long as you don't startle them, corner them or outright stand on them they normally just slither away. I know a guy that regularly handles a pet gwardar and has never been bitten although it's venom can kill a human in something like 1 hour. I do need to go out and mow my back lawn though, I don't want the kids to come across one hiding in the weeds - my youngest loves snakes and is likely to try and pick it up.

 

[oilmac]

Thank the good Lord I live in Scotland, we do not have anything of a great hazard, In Scotland out in the highland regions occasionally folks come across the adder, a poisonous snake , has been known to kill someone with say a bad heart problem (But very rarely) It is timid, protected by law, pretty rare & a lovely snake, which minds its own business
This year the damned spiders are getting bigger & bigger, although harmless they freak me out, there was a big one in my workshop two weeks ago, It was big enough to operate my shaper
In the south of England people are finding a "false widow spider" gives a nasty bite -- The swines are heading further north every year!

 

[barnesrickw]

I think we maybe have a timber rattler in Michigan. Brown Recluse spider, and Black Widow spider. Never have seen any. Oh, and they have seen some bear, wolf and cougar making their way back to the lower peninsula. But by far the greatest hazard in Michigan are the fools that can't drive in the snow.

 

[mcostello]

Central Ohio is pretty tame, so to up the ante "someone" in the Gov't has decided to release rattlesnakes into the wild again. We don't need the environment to be THAT perfect as they have been missing for many years and no one noticed.

 

[oilmac]

Central Ohio is pretty tame, so to up the ante "someone" in the Gov't has decided to release rattlesnakes into the wild again. We don't need the environment to be THAT perfect as they have been missing for many years and no one noticed.

MC This is obviously a brilliant idea dreamed up by "An expert" sitting in a nice cosy office , Guess it is to keep everyone alert when playing a game of "Lets look for rattlesnakes!" with the kids when out on the trail

Come to think on it when I went to Canada on holiday I was assured I would see Bears, Moose, Whales, (Might even see a Coyote) Managed to see some rabbits ! Might as well have stayed at home, as I have foxes and an occasional badger in my back yard every night

 

[Cogsy]

I don't want to start a 'ours is bigger than yours' war, but the inland taipan here in Australia has a lethal venom level (in mice is how they test it) of 0.025mg/kg compared to the North American eastern diamondback rattlesnake which needs a whopping 11.4 mg/kg to be lethal, and we can get a license to keep them as pets... On the whole snakes are nice creatures, they just have a bad rep. If all goes well I'll have my herpetologists license early next year and my very own slithery friend shortly after.

 

[bazmak]

I agree Cogsy,we may not be able beat the Yanks at much
but we have the most poisonous snakes