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

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!

Sunflower the albino boa constrictor turned two years old on Jan 14.  She is getting ready to begin her career as a show boa for Reptiles Alive, so I wanted to let our fans get to know her a little better.

CobraCaroline (CC):  So Sunflower, you just celebrated your 2nd birthday.  Did you do anything special?

Sunflower (SF): Well actually yesss.   You sssee, I get fed a delicioussss large rat once every other week.  And it just ssso happened that I got my delightful dinner on my birthday.  It was yummy.  And, it isss sstill in my tummy!

CC:  You know Sunflower, some people think that snakes only like to eat their prey live, but all the snakes here at RA get frozen and then warmed up food.  What do you think about that?

SF: Ooooh, I like it much much better when my dinner doesn’t try to bite me or ssscratch me or run away.  Also, I know that the frozen ratsss we eat don’t have all the yucky parasitesss or germsss that live ratsss could have. But I mussst admit, I do enjoy it when the keeper jigglesss the rat in front of me a little.  I mean, I’ll ssstill eat it if is not moving, it isss jusst ssso much more fun to ssstrike it and wrap around it – even though it isss already dead.

CC: We have a few questions from Reptiles Alive fans.   RA fan Virginia Olin wants to ask you two questions:  Where did you learn to speak?  Do you get chapped lips from licking your lips so much?

SF: Good quessstionssss Virginia.   Actually, CobraCaroline is able to communicate with me using an ancient Minoan technique known only to a few ssspecial humansss.  And no, I don’t get chapped lipsssss.  In fact I don’t even HAVE lipssss!  Ha ha ha – that is one of the reasonsss I can’t chew my food.

CC:  RA fan Kory Steele wants to know if you have any plans to get surgical augmentation and regrow legs?

SF: No Kory, no plansss for anything like that.  I really love my body just the way it issss.  I am able to accesssss placesss that animalsss with armsss and legsss can’t.   Armsss and legsss just get in the way.

CC:  RA fan and Bonnie Keller asks:  What’s your favorite rat flavor? And what will you be wearing to the Awards shows later this season?

SF: Bonnie, my tongue isss ssso powerful I can tassste the ratsss even when the RA keepersss are defrosssting them in the other room!  And man, when I sssmell them, I just want to eat them ALL.   I get ssso excited,  I’ll ssstrike at just about anything!!  Ssso, I guess I like all the rat flavors:  black, white, brown, spotted, whatever.  Just give me a yummy delicious rat!  MMMmmmm, rat rat rat.  Wait, you had another quessstion too.  Oh yeah, what will I wear to the Awardsss showsss?  Bonnie – you know usss sssnakesss, we like to keep thingsss sssimple.  No makeup, no clothesss.  I might shed my ssskin just to pretty up a little though.

CC:  So, Sunflower, are you excited about doing shows for Reptiles Alive?

SF: Oh definitely yesssss Cobra Caroline.  I can’t wait to help other people discover how cool sssnakes really are.  That we are not ssscary.  And we don’t want to hurt anyone!  Well, maybe a rat.  But ssseriously, I want to help ssstop humansss from attacking innocent sssnakes in the wild. Jussst leave those poor innocent sssnakes alone you ssscary humansss!!

CC: Any last thoughts or comments?

I am really excited to be a part of your animal education team.  I don’t think there are many albino boa constrictorsss out there working in live animal showsss, in fact, I might be the first!  Oh I know people see albino Burmese pythonsss all the time.  Even that Britney girl had one in a music video or something.  Pythonsss, shmythonssss.  I don’t meant to sssound ssstuck up, but I am ssso sssspectacularly beautiful, that I am sure to become one of RA’s biggest ssstars!

Posting by Caroline Seitz

We had been on the road for nearly a week and explored many amazing western canyons, deserts, and mountains.  However, it had been so cold that except for a tiny lizard that dashed under a rock and a roadkill gopher snake, I had not seen any reptiles or amphibians.

As my brother Will drove the Monte Carlo through the Painted Desert of Arizona, I was sitting in the back seat chatting with my Dad.    All of sudden, my Dad shouted “Will -- turn the car around, we just passed a SNAKE crossing the road!”

Will was not sure if what he had just seen was a snake or a fan belt in the road.  But, since both my brother and my Dad love me (even if they don’t love snakes as much as I do), Will made a quick U-turn and, sure enough, Dad was right!

A beautiful 4 feet long Desert King Snake was stretched out across the two lane highway.  Luckily, there were no cars around, so I was able to move the harmless snake off the road and let it go safely on the other side.

Our road trip from Reno NV to Surprise AZ via Colorado was nearing the end.

Will said at some point during our trip that the word “Epic” is overused.  Maybe he is right, but I think no other word is better suited to describe the journey I was lucky enough to undertake.

I’m looking forward to undertaking more epic journeys with Dad and Will again soon.