Snakes on Chicago? (No, this isn't about Rahm)

[marmar]

CHICAGO (CBS) — Snakes in the city of Chicago? Yes, they are here.

They usually keep out of sight. However, not at one Ravenswood townhouse complex, as WBBM’s Steve Miller reports.

Just north of Lawrence near the Metra tracks, Jill Ferenc is a nanny caring for a 17-month-old.

One day she looked out the window at the patio.

“And saw all these little things rustling through the leaves,” she said. “And I didn’t know what it was at first. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/11/21/snakes-slithering-about-ravenswood-townhouse-complex/

[surrealAmerican]

1. They don't even say what kind of snakes these are.

Can't CBS afford to hire a reporter?

[zbdent]

2. "I'm sick and tired of these motherf*cking snakes on this motherf*cking elevator!"

[LibertyLover]

3. Years ago, when I was at college in Chicago

one of the urban development complexes had to be closed down and exterminators brought in to get rid of the snakes that were infesting it. It turned out that one of the maintenance men was tired of getting calls from tenants about rats, so he got a bunch of snakes and let them loose in the building. The snakes took care of the rodent problem, but then they migrated to the ventilation system and started popping into apartments, which freaked people out. I no longer remember what type of snakes he used, but I remember watching an interview on tv with one of the residents who had discovered a large snake in her baby's crib.

[frazzled]

4. I dunno, but we have parrots in Chicago

Well, monk parakeets, to be exact. They live in Hyde Park and people see them all the time.

The first sighting of Chicago's free-flying monk parakeets dates to 1973. According to local lore, they settled in Hyde Park after escaping from a cage at O'Hare International Airport. That rumor may be based on a documented escape at a New York airport, Pruett-Jones says, suggesting that the Hyde Park population more likely sprang from the escape or even intentional release of pet monk parakeets, which, unlike some other small parrots, have poor mimicking skills and high-pitched screams. Adding to the birds' legend, the late Mayor Harold Washington is said to have directed police to protect the colorful creatures that flew outside his apartment overlooking "Parrot Park" at Lake Shore Drive and 53rd Street.

Today, Pruett-Jones estimates, Hyde Park's monk parakeet population has grown to about 200, with 80 nests perched on power transformers and in the trees of Parrot Park and of Washington Park. He predicts they will be flying all over the continental United States within the next two decades. So far-in at least six other states, including New York and Florida- they have inexplicably chosen parklands, suburban lawns, and backyards with birdfeeders over croplands. "I previously thought the monk parakeets should be controlled because an introduced species is almost always bad for its new environment," Pruett-Jones says. "But now I believe they are sufficiently benign in the habitats where they now occur. They're not a pest, and they don't compete with a native species."

http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9810/html/invest2.htm

[lunasun]

5. garter snakes most likely........ she is by the tracks

they are cool
and not poisonous
but they can get into things!!!!

[Silver Swan]

6. I lived in Evanston, just north of Chicago

from 1973-2002.

We once found a snake in our basement. We coaxed it into a jar with the help of a stick, and took it outside.

We never saw another one after that.