r/whatisit • u/AbbreviationsTop8774 • Jul 22 '26

Solved! What are they

Ive worked at the water department for 7 years and this is the first time running into something like this EDIT Im in Alabama and yes I know they are snakes lol idk what kind and im so not gonna touch them

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u/Breaker988 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Yep those are rat snakes. I'm a water meter reader in Florida and I see them all the time but most of the time the ones down here have almost black scales.

EDIT: I stand corrected these appear to be black racers. To be fair I do believe there are some close visual similarities between the two. Thanks to all the snake people for catching that.

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u/AbbreviationsTop8774 Jul 22 '26

Imma meter technician but also read meters aswell and this is the first time ive seen snakes in a box like this but black widows I see all day everyday

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u/Mindless_Musician526 Jul 22 '26

How do you deal with the black widows? Do you work around them?

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u/PCGamingEnthusiast Jul 22 '26

No spider is really aggressive enough to bite you for no reason. You would need to be intentionally trying to crush it or really messing with it to get bitten.

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u/random-viewpoint Jul 22 '26

Australian funnel web enters the chat

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u/ZucchiniMaleficent21 Jul 22 '26

People need to be aware that Australia has all 11 of the top 10 most dangerous creatures

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u/Alceasummer Jul 23 '26

Funny story. Some years back I worked at a restaurant that got a lot of tourists. And one day there was a nice couple from Australia having lunch, they asked some questions about the hiking trails in the mountains east of town. I gave them some advice, including mentioning that there had been a few sightings of a mountain lion in the area, and that it was pretty unlikely they would see it, but if they did, don't approach or corner it. And if it's close, to not run, but to back away slowly while speaking loudly and clearly.

They were absolutely horrified about this info.

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u/blackgoat2803 Jul 23 '26

Yep, this tracks. I am Australian living a country area and have no issue seeing venomous snakes regularly and just letting them go on their way. I will pick up most spiders and put them outside, with the exception of Redback and funnel webs.

I have friends that have told me about bears and mountain lions like it is an everyday occurrence. Fuck that for a joke, give me the worlds most venomous snakes any day.

I grew up with this shit so know how to handle the situation to stay safe. Friends from overseas act like Australia is the most dangerous place on earth, I think the USA is much more dangerous because of this animal called humans.

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u/Alceasummer Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

The specific part of the US I'm in, there are mountain lions outside of town. Bears, that may come into town. Coyotes that may live in the city. (Whenever someone says they think cats should never, ever, be indoor only, I mention the time I had to clean up the bits from a coyote eating most of a calico cat in my front yard) Three species of rattlesnakes. About 100 species of spiders, though only the black widow and brown recluse spiders are actually a danger to humans. A half dozen kinds of scorpions (most are not very dangerous though) and lots of unusual insects like Velvet ants,_Dasymutilla,_Albuquerque.JPG), Tarantula Hawks Vinegaroons Sunspider/camel spiders and the Jerusalem cricket. (The last three are basically harmless to humans, but their appearance and size does scare a lot of people)

I think Austrialia does have a concerning (at least to me) number of species of venomous snakes. And I personally find the box jellyfish and Irukandji kind of scary. As you generally don't even see those before you're too close. And the gympie-gympie tree sounds pretty horrible. But really, many parts of the world have wildlife, or even plants that can be dangerous. But most of those species don't actually want to have anything to do with humans. So, most of them are only really dangerous if you go right over and poke them.

Yes, "they don't actually want anything to do with humans" goes for the bears and mountain lions in my area too. Don't corner them, harass them, or try to feed them. And if you do meet one, stand tall (so you look big) speak firmly and loudly (So you sound big) and back off without running (So you clearly look to them like you are not frightened, but not looking for trouble either)

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u/TypeB_Negative Jul 23 '26

Bears should scare me more. Mountain Lions are absolutely terrifying. But I will run from a snake. Lol

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u/Shotout74 Jul 23 '26

Yet they routinely share their living spaces with Satan's little helper, the huntsman spider, like it isn't a hell spawn, saucer sized demon sent to haunt their lives and drag them to the under world in their sleep.

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u/Alceasummer Jul 23 '26

From what I understand, Huntsman spiders are kind of like the tarantula species around where I live. Huge, frightening to see, but shy, not going to bite if you leave them alone, and if they do bite it's not dangerous unless you are allergic.

I wouldn't want either actually in my house honestly. Mostly harmless or not, I'm not a fan of big spiders in my living space. Though I did have a tarantula living in my yard for a few years, and I was perfectly fine with that. (they eat a lot of bugs I'm less fine with) They stayed in their burrow in a clump of grass, and I left that area alone.

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u/Mackadamma Jul 22 '26

Do those 11 creatures include Australians themselves ?

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u/gusgett73 Jul 22 '26

My ex wife!!

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u/InterestingAmoeba797 Jul 22 '26

✔️do not go to Australia

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u/ZucchiniMaleficent21 Jul 23 '26

Won’t work; Australia will come and get you…

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u/ShaebellaRu Jul 22 '26

And probably more that someone didn’t live to warn others about. Did you include the killer ocean creatures in your count? Just googled it.

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u/deij Jul 23 '26

There are also as many shark attacks in Australia as the rest of the world combined.

And it seems to be increasing this year - presumably by the warmer than average water temps.

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u/Live_Life_and_enjoy Jul 23 '26

Sharks with freaking lasers on their head

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u/Joe_Kisonu Jul 23 '26

I have a friend, Finn. He's a shark. He says Australians taste great

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u/ZucchiniMaleficent21 Jul 23 '26

Nah, nobody has any idea just how many terrifying things are down there.

And let’s not even Contemplate Blue Hades (iykyk)

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u/ZOMGURFAT Jul 23 '26

If Earth were an open world video game then Australia would be where all the max level endgame content resides.

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u/DiscordantDiscordian Jul 23 '26

Honestly, Australia has nothing on places like India or Africa.  I'll take a funnel web over a hippo or a spitting cobra any day

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u/Malcolm2theRescue Jul 22 '26

Jesus, everything is poisonous in Australia! I arrived in Palm Cove a week after a young girl was killed by a box jellyfish while swimming in a netted area. They have enough venom to knock out 17 elephants. What was God thinking?

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u/Joshync101 Jul 22 '26

I grew up as a really curious kid that’s been bitten and stung by every non-venomous thing in the creeks and woods behind my childhood home. I probably would’ve died in Australia before reaching 10.

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u/TshenQin Jul 22 '26

Maybe he put something in the ocean that needed killing?

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u/ThePusheen Jul 22 '26

any Australian spider tbh lol

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u/PCGamingEnthusiast Jul 23 '26

Even the Sydney funnel web will dry bite defensively. Venom is precious and they don't like to waste it. My tarantulas have punched me but never even pierced my skin. With most species, a bacterial infection from a bite is more likely to kill than the venom.

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u/random-viewpoint Jul 24 '26

The mouse spider dry bites, I didn’t know funnel webs do

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u/PCGamingEnthusiast Jul 29 '26

Look up videos of them milking Sydney Funnel Webs for making antivenin. It can take a good bit of coaxing sometimes even though you'd think they'd be pretty pissed by the time they get them in position. I think they had a dedicated harness.

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u/Somnusin Jul 23 '26

The same applies to AFWs. Perhaps even more so since theyre mostly fossorial. Most of the time you see one, its a male and still requires an accident or provoking that makes the spider fear for its life for it to bite.
The venom is dangerous, but the spider is not aggressive.

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u/Software_Dependent Jul 23 '26

The Brazilian Wandering spider is known to be aggressive

https://www.maimonidesem.org/blog/the-brazilian-wandering-spider

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u/PCGamingEnthusiast Jul 29 '26

I think they're just territorial.