budleigh

We are moving to MA from the UK later this year and being a complete control freak and paranoid mum I have started worrying about spiders, snakes and bears
Is there anything I should look out for or be aware of that we don't have in the UK? do they have snakes in MA or are the winters too cold??
thanks

Tracym

Just squish any spiders.
Doubt you'll see bears.
Haven't heard of many poisonous snakes in MA. Don't worry about the non-poisonous ones - the kids'll adore playing with them

Hi and welcome to BE btw.

budleigh

Thank you! I'll get on with worrying about something else now

English Muffin

Why shouldn't I squish spiders? I'm always squishing them!!

TKO

Because there is a fair to middlin' that they eat either flies or poisonous spiders - they can be handy to have around!

Optimus Prime

There are a "few" timber rattlesnakes in New England but mostly in Vermont and the Adirondacks. I saw one bear in 5 years living in the Adirondacks so if you see one at all in MA it'll be stuffed. Spiders?? Non poisonous and easy to kill.

The winters??...LMAO.....you'll want to come home halfway through the first one. They are brutal.

mellybrown

You can have a read of this.....

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=541574

hehe dont know if any of that is in your parts of the world but always good to get the paranoia going So far ive not seen anything more scary looking than a vole and a few lizards - and they are real cute!!

sime303

Have a read of this about the bears

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/wildl...with_bears.htm

This what I found about venomous snakes


There are only two venomous snakes in Massachusetts - the timber rattlesnake and the copperhead. (Contrary to popular belief, there are no venomous "water moccasins" in the Bay State, only harmless water snakes.) Statewide, populations of our two endangered venomous snakes are believed to number no more than a few hundred individuals. Due to a host of problems, these populations are probably still declining despite rigorous efforts to protect them. Our "rattlers" are now known to exist at only a dozen or so widely scattered sites in mountainous regions of the state; the distribution of copperheads is even more restricted. As a result, most of Massachusetts is completely devoid of venomous serpents.

The chance of receiving a venomous snake bite is further reduced by the fact that both species are shy and reclusive. Like all snakes, they will bite people only in self defense. If you do not willfully seek out and attempt to confront these species, the chances of being bitten by either are negligible. The toxicity of their venoms tends to be highly overrated; only one person has ever died of snakebite in Massachusetts, and that was more than 200 years ago.

Always keep in mind that many harmless snakes resemble venomous snakes in pattern and behavior. Milk snakes, water snakes, hognose snakes and other banded or blotched species are frequently mistaken for copperheads. Milk snakes, black racers and black rat snakes are often misidentified as rattlesnakes because they vibrate their tails rapidly when alarmed. The overwhelming majority of reports of encounters with poisonous snakes in New England are nothing more than cases of mistaken identity.

http://www.umass.edu/nrec/snake_pit/pages/real.html#ven

As for spiders I think the only dangerous one is the northern black widow and they are pretty hard to find.

Winters=bundle up

Roland Hulme

Oh my!

fatbrit

Get a gun.

another bloody yank

Spiders are hard to hit...

fatbrit

Not the big ones they get in MA.

English Muffin

another bloody yank

They do get to a decent size up there...

fatbrit

A cute baby. Wait till it grows up and is full size.