How I Learned About Snakes
Being somewhat of a country
boy, from the time I could walk I was being taught how to tell the
difference between the ‘dangerous’ and ‘not so dangerous snakes’ in
the wild. When I was a young child my family lived in a very rural
area in Southern Arkansas. We were miles from anything resembling
what most people would consider civilization. It was in this middle
of nowhere forest home that I began to learn about snakes, and
telling them apart at a very young age. Like most children, I had a
tendency to explore. Fortunately, my mother kept a close eye on me
and I never got to explore the Copperhead infested wilderness
surrounding our humble country home. To this day my mother still has
pictures of a few of the copperheads found on that property stretching over
three feet in length. For those with limited knowledge of the various
species of snakes I will discuss Copperheads further down in this
article. Suffice to say for now they are one of the four species of
venomous snakes in the United States and they are very dangerous.
Hearing about my venomous
snake infested playground might make some think that playing outside
should have been off limit for children in such an area, and I must
admit that even as a small child the knowledge that something that
dangerous could be close by was quite terrifying even for a young
mind. However, there was another kind of snake that I would learn
about in those years that make me grow a great appreciation for the
species.
Enter the King of Snake Realm
Even though Copperheads were
all around, they were never seen near or around the parameter of the
house. Some snakes won’t venture near areas of high human traffic,
but anyone that has found a snake inside their house knows that this
doesn’t apply to all of them. Our barn, which only a short distance
from the house tended to have a high volume of Copperheads. I wasn’t
allowed to play anywhere near it. The yard and the parameter of the
house were safe though because the big boss of the snake world lived
under and around my house.
“Sneaky Snake” we had
named it, for its tendency to pop out of random places and terrify my
mother, was a very large, very beautiful, and very human friendly
King snake that lived under and around our house. Oddly enough, this
snake was so friendly that it would actually approach us and allow us
to handle it. It was always around perched up in a tree or sun
bathing on our porch. Locating Sneaky Snake was never much of a
challenge.
My mother jokingly tells
people about how Sneaky Snake was my first baby sitter. Obviously my
mother never left me alone with a giant snake, but her meaning was
that as long as Sneaky Snake was around the dangers of venomous
snakes was severely cut down.
King Snakes are called
“King Snakes” because not only do they eat venomous snakes, but
they are immune to their venom. If you have ever seen a King Snake
interacting with a venomous species of snake, you will see the
venomous snake seems to cower in fear before the almighty King Snake.
The King snake seems to lack any sense of fear of the other snake
whatsoever and will calmly approach its prey, then it will strike it
with inhuman speed coiling its body around that of the venomous snake
and constricting it to death. The King snake will then consume the
dead snake. I am in no way saying that I condone such actions, but if
you search on Youtube you can find numerous videos of people feeding
wild venomous snakes to their pet King Snakes.
The Safe Way to Handle Snakes
The easiest and safest
method of handling snakes is not to handle them. If they are out in
the wild, and they aren’t bothering you, don’t bother them! Watch
them, appreciate them, and let them slither away from you. Since I
know there is a lot of people that won’t heed this valuable advice, let me say
this… Most people that are bitten by venomous snakes are bit
because they trying to handle or kill them. Also note that according
to WebMD a dead snake can still bite for approximately 90 minutes
after death. I have skinned a few snakes and I can tell you this is
true (And a little terrifying).
If you choose to ignore my advice about the handling of snakes, at least listen to this… If you get bit by a
venomous snake seek medical attention immediately. Hopefully if you
get bit you can recognize what kind of snake bit you, because this
will make it easier of the medical professionals to find the right
anti venom… Which hopefully will save your life and limbs.
The Dangers of Non-Venomous Snakes
It is worth mentioning that
nonvenomous snake bites are not particularly good either. While they
are not nearly as dangerous as venomous bites, they can lead to nasty
infections and tissue damage. Whenever possible, its generally a good idea to avoid getting bit by
snakes.
Also snakes carry
salmonella as part of their digestive process. Salmonella is a very dangerous disease that can be fatal to humans. So when you ignore my advice about
handling snakes be sure to wash your hands.
Pit Vipers
In the United States three
of the four kinds of venomous snakes we have are Pit Vipers. The
three species are Copperheads, Water Moccasins, and Rattlesnakes.
Being able to spot one of these breads and determine that it is
venomous isn’t too difficult if you know some basic facts. I often
tell people that if you aren’t one hundred percent sure it was
venomous there is a good chance it wasn’t, but you should still use
caution. However, if you know the basic rules there is very little
room for mistaking any of these three species.
The heads of Pit Vipers are
much different from that of the many other breeds of snakes in the
United States. Nonvenomous snakes and Coral Snakes have simple long
rounded heads. Pit vipers have big diamond shaped heads with a point
at the end. The fat bottom part of their head is extra wide because
it contains the large venom glands. The also have large pits between
there nostrils and eyes. These pits allow the snakes a sense of
infrared, and it is the reason behind the name “Pit Viper”.
The eyes are completely
different as well. Other snakes have round pupils some what similar
to humans. Pit Vipers have long slits on there eyes rather than
rounded pupils.
If you can remember these
two main differences you will be more likely to be able to
distinguish Pit Vipers from other snakes.
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are one of the
most well known snakes in the United States because of the signature
rattles on the tip of their tail. The rattles are often used to warn
you of their presence, and when the snake feels that it is in danger
it will often rattle considerably before striking. People who have
spent much time around Rattlesnakes know that distinct sound quite
well.
There are several different
types of rattlesnakes in the U.S., some of the more popular ones
being the Eastern and Western diamond backs, Timber, and Pigmy
Rattlesnakes. Though they may come in different sizes, patterns, and
colors they can all be easily distinguished by the rattle on their
tail.
Copperhead
An interesting fact that
most people don’t know about Copperheads is that they are actually
closely related to Water Moccasins in that they are not just also Pit
Vipers but dry land Moccasins themselves. In simple terms the only
difference between a Water Moccasin and a Copperhead is the way they
look and that the Copperhead prefers land over water.
While all snakes are very
good at keeping themselves hidden, in my opinion, Copperheads are
experts at camouflaging. The entire pattern of their body resembles
leaves laying on the ground. They are generally tan or pinkish with
tan or brown spots running down the length of their bodies. There
heads, believe it or not, have a sort of copper color to them.
Because they are so good at hiding, it is believed they adapted to
hold still when they believe they are in danger rather than fleeing
like other snakes. This has led to many accidental snake bites by
people stepping on the snake when they do not see them.
Water Moccasin/Cottonmouth
Some people, for whatever
reason, will argue your ear off all day that Water Moccasins and
Cottonmouths are not the same thing. To put it simply, they are
wrong. They are the exact same thing. The reason Water Moccasins got
the alternative name as Cottonmouth is because the inside of their
mouth has a white ‘cotton’ look. As I mentioned in the section about
Copperheads, they are closely related. However Water Moccasins live
primarily in and around water. This is not to say that you wouldn’t
see one on land, but chances are that there is a water source very
near by.
Water Moccasins are
generally a very dark brown to black, but can be outside of this with
brown, yellow, or gray. Many common water snakes are killed because
they are mistaken as Cottonmouths. The water snakes head is a little
bit wider and can have a similar look. Many people will tell you that
they are very aggressive. I personally have seen a very large
Cottonmouth raise its head and charge humans. However, as tests have
shown more times than not a Water Moccasin will attempt to flee
during a human encounter.
Coral Snake
Coral Snakes are not Pit
Vipers like the other Venomous snakes of North America. They are what
is called an elapid snake, and rather than having large retractable
fangs, they have short fixed fangs. Coral Snakes account for less
than one percent of venomous snake bites in the United States.
However, this small number of bites does not make them any less
dangerous as some variants of the Coral Snake contain some of the
most venomous snakes in the United States. Because the amount of
bites are so few, they don’t produce as much anti-venom for these
snake bites as the do the other snake venoms in United States.
Coral Snakes are known for
there black to yellow to red to yellow to black pattern. There are
many different nonvenomous snakes that look almost identical to coral
snakes except the colors don’t go in the same order. This has led to
many different phrases to help people remember the difference such
as, “Black to red, friendly Fred; Red to yellow, killer fellow”
Snakes and Humans
Snakes for the most part try to avoid interacting with humans. Yet everyday people encounter these creatures, and unfortunately many people simply seek to destroy every snake in their path. There isn’t a single good reason for the mass slaughter for these creatures of nature. Even venomous snakes have their place in the world along with every other living thing. If you can learn to tell them apart, and avoid contact with venomous snakes there is no reason that you can’t enjoy nature without a huge fear of this amazing creatures. As you venture out in to the natural world always watch where you walk, and leave the snake handling to the professionals!
, Friendly Snakes Vs. Not So Friendly Snakes… Identifying Venomous Snakes in the United States www.ozeldersin.com bitirme tezi,ödev,proje dönem ödevi