Glen Haven Community Association

The Crocodile Lady Sez

Apr 29, 2002

The weather is beginning to warm up, and as we get into the warm weather seasons you may begin seeing, among other things in and around your yards, snakes. Now, here are some facts about snakes. Snakes may be scary to many people, but they are not really very dangerous, and they pose almost NO threat to us. For example, did you know that deer KILL ten to twenty times more people every year than ever even get bitten by a snake? And even more people than that die each year from lightening strikes, and bee & wasp stings. It's simpler to remember a few facts and use a little common sense:

1. If you see a snake, leave it alone, immediately move away from it, and call an expert (or, if it's threatening you, the police) to come and remove it for you.

2. Snakes are more afraid of humans than we are of them. They normally avoid us or hide from us. If you see a snake, it is confused and possibly distressed, thus on guard against you. If left alone, a snake will escape far away from you as soon as possible.
3. Although it is extremely uncommon to encounter one of the four kinds of relatively rare poisonous snakes, out of the thousands of harmless snake species and subspecies we have here, it's best to move away from and avoid any snake you may see.

4. Among the relatively rare poisonous snakes, even a newborn snake has the same poison as an adult snake. Move away from and avoid even the little snakes.

5. State law in Georgia makes it illegal to kill a harmless snake.

6. Also, don't kill snakes because it can be more dangerous for you than simply leaving it alone so it can run far away from you the first chance it gets. Snakes do not die in expected ways, and that makes it dangerous to try and kill them! For example, a snake's head off, when cut off, can stay alive and bite you for up to several days later. If it's a poisonous snake, and you kill it and throw it out, the poison dries on the fangs and can even be dangerous months after it lies decomposing somewhere. Leave snake wrangling to the experts.

7. If you can't get another expert in a hurry, please call your neighborhood snake wrangler, Jeanine Normand, 404-288-8611. Please leave your name, address, phone number, & problem on the machine if she doesn't pick up when you call.

Dr. Normand is a resident of this Community and, as she fondly likes to be called, is our resident Crocodile Lady. You can expect to see more articles like this one in future issues of the newsletter.