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Into the Outdoors: A Look at Some Critters

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This week, I thought it might be fun to look at some critters. First of all, we have spiders. I have a picnic pavilion in my backyard. I noticed an elaborate spider web which was about a foot in diameter. I was totally surprised when I saw the spider that wove it. It was way smaller than a pencil eraser. It’s hard to believe that something so tiny could weave a web that large and complex. It seems to be working for him, though, as it is filled with little bugs, like gnats.

There are lots of other spiders around here. The only poisonous ones are the black widow and the brown recluse. It should be noted, however, that virtually all spiders bite. Even without venom, a spider’s fangs are filthy, and a bite can easily lead to infection.

When it comes to snakes, we have a lot of them, too. In this part of the state, about the only poisonous one is the copperhead. Seeing one of these is rare indeed. Ever since I was a little kid, I have played, hiked and fished along the river. In all that time, I have only ever seen one copperhead. We are talking here about more than sixty years. Water snakes are often mistaken for copperheads. In some cases, the markings are similar, but the shape of the head is a dead giveaway.

The garter snake is one of our most common species. Though they may startle a person, they are really quite harmless, and they do away with a lot of pests.

Most of us have seen black snakes at one time or another. These are, according to the Fish and Boat Commission, Pennsylvania’s largest snakes, sometimes reaching a length of eight feet. The more proper name for them is eastern rat snake. While imposing to look at, they are harmless, and consume rats, mice and other rodent pests. Killing them is a big mistake. Here is a little excerpt from an article I found on, of all things, the rat snake.org website.

Rat snakes enter people’s homes rather frequently, the reason being that they are good climbers and their prey are in abundance close to residential areas. Ratsnakes are not dangerous and mostly not aggressive although they will vibrate their tails and behave aggressively towards anybody trying to corner them.

When threatened, Rat snakes freeze, and many are killed in traffic because of this habit. Their bite looks very much like a human bite, and as they can grow rather large, a bite can be very painful.

This tells me that the best thing to do if you encounter one, is to just leave it alone. They are only aggressive when cornered.

These are, of course, only a few of Pennsylvania’s snakes, but they are the ones most likely to be encountered in this area. As far as I’m concerned, they are nothing to worry about. We won’t be seeing them much longer, as they hibernate when the weather turns cold.

On the fishing front, the Allegheny has been pretty low lately, due to the lack of rain. As this is being written, it is the second rainy day in a row. Maybe that will help[. Personally, I have had some rather good catches during periods of low water and a glass like surface. That said, I have usually had very good fishing under those circumstances or gotten skunked. There is very little middle ground.

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