R.I.P. Spike
“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…
Bitten!
“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…
Feeding Time
“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…
Dangerous Territory
“Keep your bear spray in your hands!” This warning from the biologist was meant to protect us as we meander through the wetlands inhabited by many moose on the National Elk Refuge. As we advise visitors, moose are the most dangerous animals in the area….
Scary Halloween
“Trick or Treat!” For nearly 14 years, as we lived full time in our RV in remote locations on different National Wildlife Refuges around the country, we never heard those words. And now that we have acquired a residence in a 55 plus community near…
How Do You Kill a Snake?
“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…
Surveying for Snakes
“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…