Mayfair in Tampa Palms

The Christmas Snake

In Mayfair, 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 41/2 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? 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 much thought to the snake again until I received this email January 27

from Lisa Timmer our Neighborhood Affairs Liaison with the Tampa Police Dept.:

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 this picture:

So be careful our there now that the weather is warming up.

For more information on Venomous Snakes or an excellent resource for poison safety awareness

go to: http://www.poisoncentertampa.org/

Additional Picture of the snake head.