You are in the garden.  As you bend down to pick a tomato, you see a:  snake!  Whoa – that snake has a triangular shaped head!  Is the snake venomous?

Many people mistakenly believe that all snakes with triangular shaped heads are venomous.  And not just people: a recent study in Spain has even shown that predators such as hawks and eagles will often avoid snakes with triangular heads!  Valkonen, J., Nokelainen, O., & Mappes, J. (2011). Antipredatory Function of Head Shape for Vipers and Their Mimics PLoS ONE, 6 (7) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022272

The fact is, however, that many harmless snakes mimic the viper-like head shape when they are frightened.   Harmless snakes including garter snakes, rat snakes, and water snakes will flatten their heads and bodies when they feel threatened.  And snakes in the garden feel threatened when they see people.

So is there an easy way to know if a snake is venomous or harmless?  No, not really.  Herpetologists and snake experts learn to identify snakes using a variety of physical characteristics.  There is also individual variation within species: albinism, melanism, and pattern variations that occasionally occur can cause confusion when trying to  identify a snake.

At Reptiles Alive, we suggest that people  just leave all snakes alone.  If you leave snakes alone, snakes will leave you alone.  That way it  does not matter whether the snake is venomous or not  – even venomous snakes will leave you alone if you don’t bother them.

Snake Head Shapes Compared © John White - Virginia Herpetologica

Harmless Northern Brown Snake © John White – Virginia Herpetological Society

Harmless Eastern Garter Snake © John White - Virginia Herpetological Society

Harmless Northern Water Snake © John White - Virginia Herpetological Society

Special thanks to John White and the Virginia Herpetological Society for the great pictures!

Every year we get calls from gardeners about snakes trapped in their soft plastic landscape netting.  Landscape netting is often used to protect fruit and vegetables from nibbling deer, birds, and rabbits.  Unfortunately, it can be a death sentence to snakes, birds, and small mammals.

Tony carefully restraining the first Copperhead while his coworker cuts away the netting

Small animals become trapped in the net and as they struggle to free themselves,  get even more tangled up.  The netting not only traps the poor animals, it also causes very serious injuries due to the thin plastic cutting into their skin and muscle.

If a human does not intervene, it is a long, slow and sad death for any trapped creature. Some animals are lucky – they are found and rescued.  Recently our very own TuataraTony was called upon to rescue two copperhead snakes that had become entangled in landscape netting in a garden in Great Falls VA.

Tony (right) and his coworker helping to free the second trapped Copperhead Snake

Tony and other professional Naturalists, Wildlife Educators and Animal Rehabilitators are experts at handling all sorts of animals.  If you find a creature in need of rescue, contact your local animal control agency for help.

Alternatives for protecting crops do exist: Fences 8 feet tall or taller will protect areas from deer.  Using chicken wire, wire mesh, kennel fencing, or snow fencing attached to fence posts will protect against most animals, including rabbits.

If deer are your main problem, you might also consider an electric fence. Motion sensors that trigger a blast of water can scare off birds and other wildlife from fruit trees and bushes. And a good old fashioned scarecrow (especially if it has bright, shiny, moving parts) is always a festive addition to any garden.

Here are some great links for more suggestions on how to save your garden without hurting snakes or other wildlife:

• http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/animal-pests
• http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/fencing
• http://www.ehow.com/how_2339880_keep-birds-varmints-out-organic.html

posting by CobraCaroline

Wildly Exciting.

That is how I describe the last 15 years.

In July 1996 I signed the documents and secured the permits and licenses to officially create a business that was then known as “The Reptile Lady.”

I had been working 3 separate jobs the past year, all at the same time:  park naturalist; zoo educator;  and snake removal technician.  And I was performing live reptile shows at schools, birthdays and other events on the side using non-releasable reptiles I received working as a wildlife rehabilitator.  WHEW!  That was a lot of work!

Since I was so into snakes and reptiles,  people starting calling me “the reptile lady.” In July, I decided to make it official.

I quit my three other jobs to focus exclusively on being “The Reptile Lady” full time.

At first,  I was a one person company.  I had a collection of about 20 animals including a boa constrictor named Franki Valli, a savanna monitor named Dion, and a tokay gecko named Freddie Boom Boom Cannon.  I had all the animals set up in a room that a friend helped me to remodel to accommodate the small zoo.  I spent every day answering the phone, caring for the animals, and performing the shows.

“The Reptile Lady” quickly became a very popular show.  In 1996 I performed 152 shows and reached approximately 4000 people.  I almost doubled that number 1997:  I did 267 shows and reached approximately 15, 550 people.   By 1998, it became obvious that I needed help to keep the business growing – I was now doing over 350 shows per year, caring for 30 exotic animals, and doing all of the office work.  It was tons of fun – but in order to grow, I had to hire some good people.

Since I was going to hire staff people, (and some of those people might be males who might not want to answer the phone by saying “Reptile Lady”) I decided to rename the business “Reptiles Alive! LLC”.

Next, I relocated the animals and business into a larger location that had lots of room for spacious animal enclosures, a nice cleaning area, storage, and office space.  I also built an out door tortoise enclosure.

And then the big step:  I hired the first two employees:  Jeff Streicher and Jennifer Pullen (now Rafter).  I was so lucky to have them!  Jeff and Jennifer proved to be just as dedicated to reptiles and wildlife education as I was.

Over the last 15 years, I have had the pleasure of working with many other great people.  Some of our former staff people are now working as field biologists, scientists, and one of our former keepers is now the Senior Keeper at the National Zoo Reptile Discovery Center.

We currently have a team of top notch wildlife educators and animal keeper.  They perform over 800 shows a year for an average of 60,000 people.  In addition, they care for a collection of approximately 60 animals including pythons, boas, alligators, monitor lizards and other amazing creatures.  And last but not least, the staff at RA also get to help with the glamorous work in our office.

Without our awesome staff and our awesome fans, Reptiles Alive would not be where we are today.  Thank you ALL!  And here’s to another sssspectacular 15 years of wildly exciting live animal shows with Reptiles Alive!

Ssssee you in 2026!

Posting by CobraCaroline

There are lots of gophers on the golf courses in northern Nevada, and I’m not talking about the little brown furry rodents that Carl Spackler went to war with in the movie Caddyshack.  Nope, the gophers I’m talking about are long and scaly.  I’m talking Gopher Snakes!

Whenever I visit my Dad at his home in Sparks NV, I  spend time in the surrounding desert searching for snakes and lizards.  The Great Basin desert is a harsh area characterized by very little rain fall, cold winters and hot summers, and it is mostly rocky and covered in sage brush.  Although many people associate deserts with snakes, I usually don’t find very many snakes or lizards besides western fence lizards.  In fact, I am able to find more reptiles in northern Virginia than in northern Nevada.

So, I was talking with my Dad and some of his golfing buddies and they started telling me about the snakes they see on the golf course.  They described seeing many gopher snakes sunning on the greens and in the rough.  My Dad offered to take me snake hunting on the golf course he is a member of -- I was excited!

The weather in Sparks can be unpredictable -- to say the least.  In June, it can be 90 one day and then snow the next day!  The day we set off on our golf course snake safari it was about 80 -- but the wind was blowing down from the snowy Sierras at about 30 miles per hour.  I wasn’t sure if the snakes would be out in wind like that.

Snow on Mt Rose, NV in June

Dad received permission from the course manager to take me on a “tour” of the course.  We got on our golf cart and began our adventure!

The views are spectacular in Nevada -- you can see forever.  It was so nice just to be out enjoying our day.  Dad was careful to not to get in any of the golfers’ way and he knew right where the snakes were most likely to be.

Dad was also careful not to hit any fence lizards that were on the cart path.  (Fore! little lizards)

Then we totally lucked out!  Not only did we find a beautiful gopher snake, we found him eating a vole!  (Voles are little furry mammals that Carl Spackler would not approve of.)

What an awesome day.  And the best part was how appreciative Dad and his friends were of the snakes.  They respected and protected the snakes  from other less herpetologically informed golfers.  Thank you guys!

While exploring the jungle for scaly friends, I came across a few critters with fur and feathers.

This fine feathered friend took a bath in our hotel fountain.  He may not be as brilliant as many of the birds you might see in the jungle, but charms his way into the heart of Costa Ricans.  The clay colored thrush is the country’s national bird.

I was excited to get a glimpse of the huge billed toucan.  This dude made a very loud noise and loved to steal our fruit.

Is this a Great Currasow? This bird is shaped like a pheasant.  I can only guess.

Here is a more familiar bird, a woodpecker.

Egrets would nest near our lodging at night.  I would watch them fly out to the cattle ranches over the mountains in the morning and return every evening.

I had a near impossible time trying to get a picture of this humming bird.

zip zip zip!

These red-front parrots were much easier to capture on film.

Hey!  Get a room.

What about those furry guys?

A paca, a large rodent, chews on a delicious fruit he found on the jungle floor.  Costa Ricans believe he is delicious too!

Yes, that is a raccoon.  What is he doing out during the day?  I was told by the tour guide that raccoons are nocturnal in cities, but are diurnal (awake at daytime) in the wild.  Who knew?

Aww, its a sloth mom and baby.  Can you see it?

White faced monkeys loved to hang around the tourist beach, and nap.

Animal, vegetable, mineral can you guess what this is?

I have no idea!