What do you do when you find a small but dangerous animal in your house?

[Freudian Slit]

I've always wondered this. If it's something tiny but deadly like a scorpion, are you supposed to just smash it yourself? Will they laugh at you for calling Animal Control? What about black widows?

[Revtim]

When I lived in Phoenix, we smashed the black widows, no problem.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Professional exterminators will, of course, be happy to take your business. An example would the the Verminators.

[Athena]

I've found snakes in my basement before.

Well, actually, Mr. Athena found snakes in the basement before. He ran screaming up the stairs "There's a SNAKE! In the STORAGE ROOM! What do we DO?!?"

I went downstairs, captured said snake in a tupperware container, and put it outside.

It came back a few days later. I did the same thing, only this time I took it farther from the house. Haven't seen it since.

I don't think it was deadly, but it was pretty small, and snakes do bite. And scorpions aren't deadly either, but the OP mentions them, so I figger my snake counts.

[stucky]

Athena, you got bigger balls than your old man. Bless you.

I live in the Missouri Ozarks, we don't see many scorpions but when I was 16 I found one in a friends kitchen, I caught it in a glass jar and we took it to biology class to show everyone. Got in good with the teacher for that.

[ianzin]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

What about black widows?

I can't say much about the other creatures you name, but black widows should be way down on your list of worries and concerns.

You are not prey, and you are not anything the spider can conceive of as an enemy. The spider has no interest in you. If it is aware of you at all, it just wants to stay out of the way of your big, dark shape and the disruptive air currents that you cause.

You don't really need to move or relocate a blackwidow, as it will do you no harm and it eats things that you don't want around your home. However, if you really feel the need, it's the easiest thing in the world to gently trap the spider in a glass, trying your best not to make this a traumatic event for the animal, and to grant it freedom outside your home in a suitable environment where it can get on with its life.

Please, read Lynne Kelly's superb book on spiders when it is published (soon). It will diminish many of your fears and concerns, and it may lead to fewer spiders being needlessly disturbed and evicted. Plus, it's just a great, well-written and enjoyable book (I am lucky enough to have an advance copy).

[BarnOwl]

A year or two ago, I discovered a small, brightly colored snake on the floor just in front of the altar of my church.

While I was wondering how to trap it, another adult went behind the altar, came back with a vessel of some type, trapped and released it to the brush outside.

Next day, the snake was back, same place.

[kambuckta]

Seriously, nothing that dangerous or deadly is likely to be found in your house. That being said, venomous snakes sometimes like to wander into homes in rural Australia and unwary folks have to confront a Joey Blake in their bathtub or curled around the roof-rafters.

[Athena]

Originally Posted by stucky

Athena, you got bigger balls than your old man. Bless you.

When it comes to snakes, yes. I spent many happy childhood hours catching snakes in the grass.

House centipedes, on the other hand, bring us both to our knees.

[Xema]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

... are you supposed to just smash it yourself? Will they laugh at you for calling Animal Control?

If it's something a homeowner can easily deal with unaided it would be somewhat irresponsible for Animal Control to get involved: "Hey Fred: another call from 32 Jefferson St. - go sweep those earthworms off her driveway like you did last week."

Scorpions are reasonably easy to smash, say, with a broom. Often easier is to immobilize them in a towel or rag and move them outside.

[bengangmo]

I remember when I was about 10 or so we once had a feral / wild cat that climbed into our house through an open window and went absolutely nuts.

Have you even seen cartoons of the Tasmanian Devil?

Dad was away, mum was freakin' and my older borther is a bit of a wimp about such things so it fell to me to catch it a wadded up towel - damn thing bit my thumb through the towel - it hurt like hell, drew blood and left a nice big hole. And then I still had to go back into the room and catch it.

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Athena

I've found snakes in my basement before.

Well, actually, Mr. Athena found snakes in the basement before. He ran screaming up the stairs "There's a SNAKE! In the STORAGE ROOM! What do we DO?!?"

I don't think it was deadly, but it was pretty small, and snakes do bite. And scorpions aren't deadly either, but the OP mentions them, so I figger my snake counts.

Originally Posted by BarnOwl

A year or two ago, I discovered a small, brightly colored snake on the floor just in front of the altar of my church.

While I was wondering how to trap it, another adult went behind the altar, came back with a vessel of some type, trapped and released it to the brush outside.

When I was a kid a snake got into my friend's house, and it became my pet. It was a beautiful California king snake. It bit me a few times when I did something that annoyed it, but it didn't even break the skin--it just kind of tickled.

Originally Posted by kambuckta

Seriously, nothing that dangerous or deadly is likely to be found in your house. That being said, venomous snakes sometimes like to wander into homes in rural Australia and unwary folks have to confront a Joey Blake in their bathtub or curled around the roof-rafters.

Well, of course. Australia's snakes are a nasty bunch. In North America, there are few you need to worry about.

Scorpions and black widow spiders might endanger an infant's life, but not likely an adult's.

[Wogglebug]

Um. Don't all spiders, except a very few models, have poisonous bites?

I'm in a relatively bug safe part of the world, but even so, a woman I know had a good part of her thumb muscle destroyed by a brown/recluse spider.

And if you have an allergic reaction to...anything...or are immune-compromised...wouldn't all kinds of things be threats?

[Snarky_Kong]

Originally Posted by Wogglebug

Um. Don't all spiders, except a very few models, have poisonous bites?

I'm in a relatively bug safe part of the world, but even so, a woman I know had a good part of her thumb muscle destroyed by a brown/recluse spider.

And if you have an allergic reaction to...anything...or are immune-compromised...wouldn't all kinds of things be threats?

Just because something is poisonous doesn't mean it's going hurt you. Hell, I pay good money to drink poison fairly often.

[MLS]

When I was visiting my sister in New Mexico a couple years ago we were startled by a rattlesnake while re-entering the house. The local authorities had no problem dispatching a special team to capture the critter and take it back out to the desert where it belongs.

[Santo Rugger]

Originally Posted by MLS

When I was visiting my sister in New Mexico a couple years ago we were startled by a rattlesnake while re-entering the house. The local authorities had no problem dispatching a special team to capture the critter and take it back out to the desert where it belongs.

I used to work at an explosives testing range which was mostly on the back side of a desert mountain. I'd see a few snakes a year, they were never aggressive. Some of the guys would kill them with a shovel, but there was one guy who used to capture and relocate. The only time one really freaked me out was when I opened an ordinance bunker one morning. The snake was coiled up on the concrete, in the sun, trying to warm up. I saw it, but thought it was a ceramic decoration. Scared the crap out of me when it turned its head and flicked its tongue!

So, to answer the OP, I'd probably just take care of it myself. Unless it was a bat. That wouldn't be cool.

[Freudian Slit]

Originally Posted by Xema

If it's something a homeowner can easily deal with unaided it would be somewhat irresponsible for Animal Control to get involved: "Hey Fred: another call from 32 Jefferson St. - go sweep those earthworms off her driveway like you did last week."

Scorpions are reasonably easy to smash, say, with a broom. Often easier is to immobilize them in a towel or rag and move them outside.

I know all these things aren't that awful. It's just...I don't even like touching roaches. I usually just spray them and wait for someone else to dispose of the bodies. Can you spray a scorpion to death with insect juice?

[Tamerlane]

Originally Posted by Athena

And scorpions aren't deadly either,

Not so much in the U.S., but like snakes in Australia, they can be an issue elsewhere.

In the U.S. ( largely Arizona in this case ), this critter is only rarely deadly, but well worth respecting. I've known people that were nailed by them and the pain can be pretty intense.

[Cub Mistress]

Well, what a lot of people do is to call the police. Not the best answer, perhaps, but that's who a lot of people think of first. In my town, the cops will respond to wildlife calls and will shoot skunks, snakes, rats and possums upon request or at least chase them outside. I can't imagine anyone but the very elderly calling about a spider. Scorpions do live around here but they are rarely seen.

[silenus]

Jeez, doesn't anybody own a shotgun?

Sure, it's a bit hard on the flooring, but with snakeshot you can deal with just about anything insectoid.

[CalMeacham]

I generally feed it, or help it with its homework, because the small but dangerous animal is either one of my cats, or my daughter.

[palindromemordnilap]

Originally Posted by Wogglebug

Um. Don't all spiders, except a very few models, have poisonous bites?

I'm in a relatively bug safe part of the world, but even so, a woman I know had a good part of her thumb muscle destroyed by a brown/recluse spider.

And if you have an allergic reaction to...anything...or are immune-compromised...wouldn't all kinds of things be threats?

99% of all spider bites are harmless, and the harmful ones are usually non-fatal, although the brown recluse can sometimes cause muscle tissue damage as you describe and occasionally death.

I read an article a while back about a spider expert who claimed that the vast majority of reported / diagnosed "spider bites" were in fact something else. If you don't actually see the spider bite you, it was probably something else.

[Chronos]

I don't think it was deadly, but it was pretty small, and snakes do bite.

Almost all venomous snakes in North America (except the coral snake, found only in the Southwest and with a very distinctive pattern of red, yellow, and black bands) are pit vipers, which means that they all have a triangular-shaped head somewhat wider than their neck. So if you find a snake in North America that has cheeks flush with its neck, and doesn't have red, yellow, and black bands, then it's nonvenomous. And all of the nonvenomous snakes in North America are less dangerous than a squirrel, since there's a chance that the squirrel has rabies, but reptiles can't carry anything that can spread to humans. Even if it is venomous, that's a good reason to be careful, but not to panic, because even in the worst case, all of our venomous snakes have very low mortality rates (something like 5% mortality, with no treatment at all, for a rattlesnake).

I read an article a while back about a spider expert who claimed that the vast majority of reported / diagnosed "spider bites" were in fact something else. If you don't actually see the spider bite you, it was probably something else.

So what does cause the large, irregularly-shaped welts that itch like crazy? I had a few of those growing up, and they were definitely neither mosquito bites nor flea bites (I can certainly recognize both of those).

[Daithi Lacha]

Originally Posted by Chronos

[...] but reptiles can't carry anything that can spread to humans.

Except for salmonella. So if you do happen to handle a snake or lizard or even frog or newt, remember to wash your hands, kids!

[goodie]

I have a son who goes absolutely INSANE if I so much as put a ladybug out into the cold where "It will DIE Mom!", and yet he eats meat every day. Crimeny.

In our old house we had left the screen off of our bathroom window for some reason and a bird flew in while the door was closed. We could hear it going crazy in there before it flew out. I didn't know what it was so I didn't open the door till the sounds stopped, but I knew it had to have been a bird by the poop that was on the walls and door too high to have been any other kind of animal. Ugh. What a clean up job. The screen stayed on after that.

[MLS]

One more anecdote about NOT picking up little animals, even if not usually all that dangerous. My daughter was at a local drugstore, and there was a mouse acting really weird near the entrance, kind of running around randomly in circles. Nobody else wanted to put it out the door. She grabbed it to toss it outside and it ran up her coat . Later that night she felt really, really ill. After a day or two she was fine, but it wasn't until she mentioned this to her doctor, whom she was seeing about something else entirely, that we made the connection. The doctor said the mouse might have been acting that way because it had ingested poison, which could have contained a neurotoxin, and my daughter could have absorbed some of that through her skin when handling the creature. Yikes.

[yabob]

Non-venomous snake bites:

It's still a good idea to get a tetanus shot. That can be transmitted through a snake bite.

[Daithi Lacha]

And, of course, we all know why you shouldn't cuddle an armadillo.

[Chronos]

True, but tetanus can be transmitted through almost anything that breaks the skin.

[redtail23]

I'd imagine our Animal Control would probably be very nice and take care of your problem; they've done so for anyone I know that's called them, even for silly things. There's a fair chance they'd laugh at you later, when they're comparing notes, though. At least that's what we do when we get silly requests. They might advise you on how to do it yourself next time, or tell you over the phone when you called, if it was something really small like a spider or scorpion, where the answer is pretty much "stomp it or take it outside".

The fiddlebacks (brown recluse spiders), I just ignore. They've lived in almost every house I've had, I grew up with them in the house, no one's ever been noticeably bitten. I do drown 'em if I find 'em in the bathtub. I calls it 'natural selection', same as the spiders and egg-sacs I vacuum when I move furniture. Since they're indoors, I figure I qualify as predator.

The one time I found a black widow spider, I relocated it outside. Put a glass jar over it, carefully slide some cardboard under, take it outside & dump it out under a bush. I'm not as familiar with those and I've heard they can be aggressive if they have eggs, so I wasn't willing to share living space with her. It's not like I don't have plenty of other spiders patrolling.

The tarantulas we used to get always got relocated back outside. Although there's nothing quite like waking up from hearing one partner tell the other "there's a tarantula on your head".

The one place I lived as a kid that had LOTS of scorpions, I didn't do anything about them because the cats killed them all. In fact, I didn't even recognize them as scorpions for the longest time because I'd only seen them dead. They flatten out and don't look at all the the classic "scorpion" that you see, they're really kinda funny looking.

We did get scorpions one summer in my previous abode. We killed most of them, primarily because they kept insisting on stinging me. I believe most of them either got stomped or squished with a broom.

Poisonous snakes natural to the area are rattlesnake, copperhead, and cottonmouth. I don't worry about cottonmouths, since I don't live near water. Rattlers are pretty rare, too, I've never seen one near a residence.

I have seen copperheads near houses, although not often. Probably, I'd just catch and relocate them (very carefully!), but I have some experience handling snakes and have never seen them anywhere with Animal Control available. I'd call A.C. if that was an option; they have better equipment than I do.

OTOH, if it was a recurring problem, if the snake seemed particularly aggressive, or was in a difficult location or something, I'd probably just kill the bugger. They're not a rare species or anything. Most people just use a shovel to chop off the head. If I had problems with lots of venomous snakes, I'd get me a kingsnake or bullsnake and give it a nice place to live instead - they'll run the others off.

My brother did bring home a baby copperhead once. We had a terrarium and caught/kept all kinds of critters. Snakes never lasted more than a couple of days before they'd get out and Mom would find them in the laundry and turn them loose again. Finding that one was a bit of a shock. I'm not sure what she did with it, I was a wee tot. She had to approve all snakes after that, before they went in the case. (I don't know why snakes always get in the laundry, but if you're ever missing one - go look in the clothes.)

I worry more about the mammals (possums, skunks, coons, cats, dogs, squirrels, bats, etc.) than the venomous critters. They're much more common, much likelier to bite, and can have rabies. I've had skunks move in under my house (another good reason to keep a snake there instead!), and I saw a (different) skunk walking down the road once that I'm quite sure was rabid - and those were both in town! I've had possums and squirrels get into the house and although fortunately those are the least likely to be rabid, they will bite the teetotal crap out of you if you try to catch them to put them out.

[Freudian Slit]

You've been stung by a scorpion, redtail? What happens? I always thought it was a huge deal and you had to get to the ER, stat, or you could die. You sound so casual about it! I'm impressed.

[Hal Briston]

You take pictures and start a thread about it, of course.


Ok, I might be playing a little fast and loose with the term "dangerous" here...

[gingerbreadwoman1]

I once heard a odd sound in my cubbord that resembled rushing water.

It was a small rattlesnake that came into my house probably due a door being left open by one of my children.

My son said that he would take care of the situation, he got his b-b gun and proceeded to shoot the snake right dab between it's eyes. I would have taken care of it myself, but my son wanted to show off his newfangled skills with his new weapon. I was ready with my shovel if the situation got out of control.

I have killed at least 5 other snakes within 15 feet of my front door of my house in the 8 years we have lived where we live. I just use a flat headed shovel and remove it's head. This can be easily done if you move slowly.

Only once did I have a "close call" when my stupid dog decided to get brave and nearly throw the snake at my feet...I must have jumped a mile that time...lol

[LouisB]

Originally posted by Chronos:
(except the coral snake, found only in the Southwest and with a very distinctive pattern of red, yellow, and black bands)

We have bunches of these things in Florida and we ain't in the Southwest.

[Freudian Slit]

Originally Posted by Hal Briston

You take pictures and start a thread about it, of course.


Ok, I might be playing a little fast and loose with the term "dangerous" here...

Aww, I remember that thread. It was awesome. And hey, possums are CREEPY.

[Rack-a-Bones]

None of our Aussie pals have mentioned the duck billed platypus. How often does one encounter one of those?

I remember seeing a documentary on them and though both the male and female have little spur on their foot, the male can deliver a venomous jab.

They interviewed a guy who had been barbed by one and he said it was the most excruciating pain he had ever endured. And he had been shot and hit by shrapnel before.

So I want to know if the little buggers are known to run frothing at the mouth through town terrorizing the locals.

Obligatory wiki link

[Askance]

You would virtually never encounter a platypus outside a zoo. They are shy and reclusive creatures, either underwater or in their burrows the whole time. And they're not found in residential areas, only wild streams.

Only the male has the poison spur, and no-one really knows what it's for.

[Tamerlane]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

You've been stung by a scorpion, redtail? What happens? I always thought it was a huge deal and you had to get to the ER, stat, or you could die. You sound so casual about it! I'm impressed.

As noted earlier most ( all but one species found in Arizona and the extreme south of California ) scorpions in the U.S. are, excluding a rare occasion of anaphylaxis, completely harmless. I've been stung a couple of times by a couple of different species while helping an former roomie collect them. One was virtually unnoticeable, the other was sorta bee sting level. Some, like the Florida Bark Scorpion, are a bit worse but still not life-threatening.

The vast majority of the time scorpion stings in the U.S. are no big deal. Out of ~1500 species of scorpions worldwide, only around 25 are considered potentially deadly, with only the one inching into the southwestern United States.

[Rapier42]

Originally Posted by LouisB

We have bunches of these things in Florida and we ain't in the Southwest.

He may have meant Southeast. I don't think you see cottonmouth or coral snake west of Texas, anyway.

[Chronos]

I did mean the Southwest, but it's quite possible that I was mistaken. I am, at least, pretty certain that they're not found in the North.

[Rhubarb]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

You've been stung by a scorpion, redtail? What happens? I always thought it was a huge deal and you had to get to the ER, stat, or you could die. You sound so casual about it! I'm impressed.

I was stung by a scorpion when I was 5 and living in southern Oklahoma. My very vivid recollection is that it hurt like nothing else I'd ever been stung by up to then and that included plenty of wasps and hornets. My mother put some baking soda and water paste on the sting, and when I woke up the next morning, I couldn't even find the site of the sting. I guess I was lucky I didn't live in Arizona .

[Incref]

Originally Posted by Askance

You would virtually never encounter a platypus outside a zoo.

What? I've seen quite a few while living in country Victoria (in fact there was one in the creek that ran through the town right next to the main street) and up here in the Gold Coast hinterland. I mean they don't just hang out on bank waiting for people to say 'Hi' but you see them swishing about and coming up to breathe occasionally.

My mother once called the police on a spider... and yes they came to the house, caught it and let it go outside.

[even sven]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

You've been stung by a scorpion, redtail? What happens? I always thought it was a huge deal and you had to get to the ER, stat, or you could die. You sound so casual about it! I'm impressed.

Naw, most scorpions pose no real danger at all to an adult. A few friends of mine have been bit in Africa. It hurts pretty bad for a long time, but it won't kill you. I believe the smaller scorpions are worse than the larger ones.

[Attack from the 3rd dimension]

This is what I did last time.

[Mesquite-oh]

I get scorpions in the house when it is dry. They like to hide in dirty clothes, towels, and bunched up bedlinens. I've been stung a few times, it hurts like a wasp sting. They are not too hard to kill, just smack 'em with a rolled up newspaper. One week I killed four or five of them, and I lined their dead bodies outside on the porch as a warning to the others! Spiders I usually sweep into a glass tumbler and let them go.

[Freudian Slit]

Originally Posted by Mesquite-oh

I get scorpions in the house when it is dry. They like to hide in dirty clothes, towels, and bunched up bedlinens. I've been stung a few times, it hurts like a wasp sting. They are not too hard to kill, just smack 'em with a rolled up newspaper. One week I killed four or five of them, and I lined their dead bodies outside on the porch as a warning to the others! Spiders I usually sweep into a glass tumbler and let them go.

You should have put their heads on spikes. I suppose their own stingers would've sufficed.

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by kambuckta

Seriously, nothing that dangerous or deadly is likely to be found in your house.

Depends where you live. I've seen funnel-web spiders in houses in Sydney. A guy i worked with once got a frantic call from his wife after a funnel-web walked into the house between the legs of his two-year-old daughter, while she watched it with interest.

An adult who is treated reasonably promptly is very unlikely to die from a funnel-web bite, but a toddler is another story. Also, it's possible to get bitten without realizing what bit you, and if you don't get treatment fairly quickly you can get very sick.

Originally Posted by kambuckta

That being said, venomous snakes sometimes like to wander into homes in rural Australia and unwary folks have to confront a Joey Blake in their bathtub or curled around the roof-rafters.

Yeah, i have friends who grew up on farms who occasionally found brown snakes in the house. They are pretty damn venomous, especially if you're miles from the nearest hospital.

[lynne-42]

Originally Posted by mhendo

Depends where you live. I've seen funnel-web spiders in houses in Sydney. A guy i worked with once got a frantic call from his wife after a funnel-web walked into the house between the legs of his two-year-old daughter, while she watched it with interest.

It is a deadly spider, but its deadliness is greatly overrated - there have been only 13 proven deaths from the funnel-web ever, and none since the anti-venom became available in 1981.

Wikipedia and The Australian Museum. Red-backs (in the widow group of spiders) haven't killed anyone for 50 years. Nasty bites, wouldn't want one myself, but the anti-venom is rapid working and very effective.

[DesertDog]

Originally Posted by gingerbreadwoman1

My son said that he would take care of the situation, he got his b-b gun and proceeded to shoot the snake right dab between it's eyes. I would have taken care of it myself, but my son wanted to show off his newfangled skills with his new weapon.

He wouldn't be named Ralphie, would he?

Here in Arizona we got a poisonous lizard: Gila Monsters. Although not very deadly, they have a habit of latching on and not letting go. Further they work their lower jaw back and forth, the better to get the venom into you, so they can leave a nasty wound. I give 'em a wide berth on those rare occasions I come across one.

[beowulff]

Originally Posted by DesertDog

He wouldn't be named Ralphie, would he?

Here in Arizona we got a poisonous lizard: Gila Monsters. Although not very deadly, they have a habit of latching on and not letting go. Further they work their lower jaw back and forth, the better to get the venom into you, so they can leave a nasty wound. I give 'em a wide berth on those rare occasions I come across one.

I've lived here 25 years, and never seen one...