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In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:
Even so, deaths from spider and snake
bites (which are far deadlier than rattlesnakes) in Australia are pretty
rare.

In the USA, they are negligible. While they have more venomous animals
than Europe does, they follow the latter pretty closely in terms of
safety from such things. Yes, there is a risk, but I am pretty sure
that it's comparable to having an aircraft crash down onto you (where
the USA is NOT among the safest locations).

It's worth taking care, but no more than that. Wearing gloves all the
time is probably overdoing it, unless you are likely to be sensitive
or where you know there is a burrow.


Yes, spiders are not really a problem. Scorpions are more likely to cause
trouble - more so than snakes. But snakes are more likely to kill, as rare
as that is.

But the damage caused by rattlesnake bites is not something to be taken
lightly. See http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/ (WARNING! There are very
graphic images here of open surgery).

Quite good advice for the OP for snakes in Tennessee can be found he
http://nashville.about.com/cs/animalspets/a/snakes.htm

As to not wearing gloves all the time, well I would err on the side of
caution. But then I would also be very careful to check the gloves before I
put them on! ;-))

--

Jeff