cadman342001 wrote: GeorgeBo wrote:
Andy - You may not have bears, but you have just about everything else that will kill you down there
Re: the permits. They are for peak season weekends (May - October). We always try to go to these places during the week. Especially if photography is your goal. It is almost impossible to get photos devoid of people on a weekend.
George
True but nothing that actually hunts and kills you, er, on land at least. You have wolves, bears and mountain lions ! Oh and gators and rattlesnakes and cottonmouths whatever they are !
On the subject (just googled it), so they are also known as water moccasin, swamp moccasin etc., were the native american moccasins snake skin ?
I prefer the slang terms for snake here - Danger Noodle, Nope Rope, Caution Ramen, Hazard Spaghetti and more
Only really dodgy things here are in the sea and mainly in the Tropics - estuarine crocodiles, and sharks everywhere else.
Never swam in the sea when I lived in Cairns after probably the first year we lived there. I've seen plenty of crocs, from a boat !
The trick with them is swim with a dog or woman or child, they always go for the easiest target, don't clean your fish or turn your back on the water's edge.
All the other stuff, if you leave it alone, it leaves you alone. I actually stopped near the lookout the other day to persuade a python to get off the road so it wouldn't get runover. I nearly did the same a while ago for a Coastal Taipan but fortunately realised what it was before I got out of the car Drove around it !
Although there are 7 of the World's most venomous snakes here, a lot of them have small fangs and won't penetrate a pair of trousers.
Bears around here (black bears vs grizzly) will probably run before you even see them. Although they are coming to the suburbs more and more due to habitat loss. Mainly dumpster diving. And like your swimming strategy, with bears, you don't have to be the fastest person in the group, just not the slowest.
North Carolina has the last remaining wild population of red wolf in the world. Very sad thing is there is only 8 - 10 known in the wild. Those are in Alligator River NWR in the eastern part of the state. A few years ago we actually got a glimpse of one. But like a ghost, it was gone in a blink with zero chance of getting a camera out. But fortunately there are successful breading programs around and if "man" and animal could overcome the political differences and get rid of the "kill it" mentality maybe, just maybe there is a chance for them.
You do see the snakes you mentioned from time to time on the trails, but although venomous there are rarely any deaths. Nothing here will kill you in minutes
Drove around it !
