Florida, with its hot tropical climate, is home to dozens of different species of snakes. At least a dozen of these snakes are venomous, which means you definitely do not want to see them in your backyard or find them swimming about in your pool. Equally as crazy are the common bats in Tampa, which are almost on par with the number of different snake species. At least with the bats you know that you have a good wildlife “pest” around and you don’t have too much to fear. (Bats are also protected because they are one of the few creatures that eat ten times their own body weight in mosquitoes!)
If you encounter a lot of wildlife pests, and snakes in particular, you should back away. You need a professional pest control expert to remove these animals from your yard. The following common venomous snakes and common bats in Tampa you definitely want pest control experts to remove from your home and property in Tampa, Florida.
Common Snakes in Tampa
The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
The Eastern Diamondback is one of Florida’s most venomous. The bite is exceptionally painful. The snake likes to hide out in woodsheds and woodpiles, making it your most likely encounter with snakes in Tampa.
The Timber Rattler
It is not uncommon for timber rattlers to share a woodpile with the diamondback. If you have the misfortune of having one of each of these snakes in your wood pile or wood shed, you have double the lethal venom and twice the risk of a painful bite just gathering wood. At least with these two snakes, you can hear them warn you with their rattles before they strike, but you still want them out of your yard.
Water Moccasin
This is the most dreaded and feared of all of the common snakes in Tampa. These massive snakes have huge mouths with long venomous fangs and tempers that cause them to strike without warning. They will notoriously crawl into pools and slither, slink, and swim their way around in the same place where your kids cannonball in to cool off. Most Floridians know that they have to check the pool and the entire area around the pool before they decide to take a dip. If you see one of these snakes, head indoors and do not go near your pool until the pest control expert has arrived and successfully removed this snake.
The Snakes Go After The Bats
Little Brown Bat
Despite the fact that bats are actually very useful creatures, it doesn’t make them any less of a nuisance when they decide to roost where they shouldn’t. The little brown bat is the most annoying bat Florida has because it is small enough to slip through the tiniest openings in a roof or attic and roost there. If you suspect or know for certain that you have this bat in your house or your garage, pest control will have to carefully remove them and then prevent more of them from entering your home or garage.
Big Brown Bat
The big brown bat is almost as annoying as the little brown bat. The only difference is that these bats are bigger, and therefore they have a harder time getting into tiny places. Floridians find them hanging from the rafters in their sheds and garages, and they have to be removed to avoid accidental transmission of rabies.
Mexican Free Tail Bat
This subspecies of bat migrates from Mexico to Florida and the Gulf Coast states. They look for places to roost and mate at the height of the Floridian summer, and then return to their caves when the weather in Florida gets too “cold” again in early fall. They are the third most common bat you will see in and around your property in Tampa, but you don’t have to live with them and the damage that their urine and feces causes. They can have colonies as small as a few bats to thousands, depending on how many members with whom they choose to roost.
Sometimes the Snakes Follow the Bats
The bats come with the mosquitoes in Florida rise. The bats enjoy weeks of gorging themselves on these annoying little bloodsuckers before and during mating season. Just as they are about to retire to their winter abodes, the snakes surge. The snakes are one of the bats’ few natural enemies as snakes can slither into rafters and lay in wait to chomp on a few unsuspecting and sleeping bats. Still, you do not want either critter in your home, and a pest control expert can round these critters up and take them somewhere away from your property safely.
Should you have any unwanted snakes or bats on your property contact World Class Wildlife Removal today.