“I saw three snakes on my hike!” a visitor to White Tank Mountain Regional Park told us. “Gave me the willies!” Education About every other Sunday, Chuck and I take our snakes and skull collection to the Park to interact with visitors and introduce them to some of the wildlife that lives in the Park. …
While exploring a remote section of the Sonoran Desert at Imperial National Wildlife Refuge several years ago, I halted at the sound of a rattle and searched for its owner. Chuck was exploring a ways away, and when I spotted the diamondback, I called him over. The snake was coiled near a creosote bush, rattle …
When and how do people develop a fear of snakes? Often these fears begin in childhood, whether experiencing one’s own frightening incidents or adopting a parent’s fear. We have even perused a children’s reptile book with pictures demonstrating snakes attacking an unwary adult or lurking in wait with scowling menace for innocent victims. Rather than …
“My dad used to take me fishing and hiking, and I like to do that for my son, too,” a father told us the other day while we displayed and discussed snakes at White Tank Mountain Regional Park. His son stood nearby dressed smartly in his Cub Scout uniform. “I love seeing snakes on the …
“Crazy times when snakes don’t get fed,” remarked an acquaintance of ours when we mentioned that the snake feeding program at White Tank Mountain Regional Park was suspended for the duration of the Coronavirus threat. “Don’t worry about the snakes,” I told him. “They’ll be fed on schedule, just not in front of the public.” …
“Snakes don’t make good pets for kids,” Chuck advised a couple as their young son ran a finger across our Rosy Boa’s silky body. “They’re not cuddly. They can be difficult to feed. They don’t like to be handled and you can’t play with them. And they can live longer than a dog or cat, …
“He’s never been on the ground before, has he?” I asked Chuck as he lay our 26-year-old California Kingsnake, Spike, on the floor of our patio. “No, he hasn’t,” said Chuck. “I thought he might like a little vitamin D.” For an animal that might not have passed his sixth birthday in the wild, it …