“There are usually only two reasons a snake will bite,” Chuck tells people. “They bite to protect themselves or to get food.” A visitor to a regional park near us was recently bitten for one of those reasons, even though he likely thought he was doing the right thing. Laced with hiking trails, the park’s …
“Everything has to eat,” we tell kids who express concern watching a snake eat a mouse or a rabbit. “It’s part of nature.” Most of us can relate to cute fuzzy mice or rabbits more than we can relate to slithering reptiles, but it’s important to understand the role that snakes serve in the natural …
“How do you kill a snake?” It was a legitimate question from an older resident of a care center we visited recently with our reptile program. Also in attendance was a group of preschoolers, children of some of the facility’s staff. We were intrigued by the differences in attitudes between the age groups. Preconceived Notions …
“Count the snakes and keep your distance!” a friend warned in an email after we told her our new assignment for biological work on the National Elk Refuge was to survey reptiles, mainly counting the snakes. Unknown to her, the snakes in Jackson Hole are comprised of three non-venomous species. Because one species, the rubber …
Who hasn’t been startled occasionally by a surprise encounter with wildlife? Perhaps the most startling encounter would be with a bear, a moose, a javelina, a large spider, or even …………. a snake. Many people are repulsed by these scaly, slithering serpents. The mere thought of a snake can send some into fits of revulsion. …
Who would enter the desert after dark? As it turns out, lots of people did recently at White Tank Mountain Regional Park in Waddell, Arizona, northwest of Phoenix. White Tank is the largest of the Maricopa County Parks with about 30,000 acres in rugged desert terrain. We have brought our snakes and skulls here several …
“My father brought the head of a rattlesnake to our classroom one time,” a student once told us. Not knowing why this father presented a venomous snake head to an elementary classroom, we cringed at the thought because a dead rattlesnake can still envenomate a victim. Dead Snakes “If you find a dead snake,” says …