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!

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

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.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx8kZwxNVu8

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VnOjWCAGMU

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.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9K_7xNRUaI

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!

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!

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.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xresdanh3Ug

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.

Pantherophis alleghaniensis (formerly Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta)

Reptiles Alive Name: “Rachel”

Hisssstory: Rachel was a professor’s pet at Marymount University in Arlington VA.  He donated Rachel to Reptiles Alive in October 2009.

RA Diet: Rachel likes to eat frozen mice and rats that are thawed and warmed before she eats them.

Natural Diet: Rat snakes dine on eggs, small mammals, birds, and lizards.

Range: Eastern rat snakes are found in the eastern United States from New York to Florida and west to the Great Plains.

Habitat: Rat snakes live in forests, farmland, swamps, and even in buildings and houses!

Size: Eastern rat snakes grow 4 – 6 feet long, the record is a giant 8 feet 4 inch snake.  In many parts of their range, they are the largest snake species.

Lifespan: Rat snakes can live 20 years or more.

Reproduction: Eastern rat snakes breed April-June. Females lay 5-30 eggs that hatch in about 90 days, usually around September or October.

Conservation: Rat snakes are harmless to humans and highly beneficial to us because of all the rats, mice, and other rodents they consume.  They also serve as food to other animals including eagles and hawks.   Like all animals, snakes play an important role in the health of the environment.  If you see a snake, please leave it alone.

Cool Facts: There are many myths and misunderstandings with rat snakes.  Baby rat snakes are often confused with the venomous copperhead snake because they have a pattern of squares and diamonds down their back that slowly fades to black as they get bigger.  Rat snakes also rattle their tails when they are frightened, and flatten their head into a triangle shape.  Due to these two traits, there is a myth that rat snakes can mate with copperheads and rattle snakes to produce venomous hybrid offspring.  It is actually physically impossible for rat snakes to mate with either copperheads or rattle snakes.  Snake identification can be tricky – even for snake experts.  It is always a good idea to leave snakes alone.

We started the day around 8:30 am.  We were divided into 5 teams that were given 5 different sections of the area to survey.  Our team was assigned to the areas of the Wildlife Refuge that are closed to the public.

We drove to the end of the main Refuge access road to an area that used to be a farm.  Five foot tall grass, poison ivy, and millions of deer ticks awaited us.  We were not deterred!  Almost immediately an eastern box turtle was found.

Eastern Box Turtle

And then in a very short period of time, we found a brown snake, multiple worm snakes, more box turtles, two spotted salamanders, and giant native millipedes (I know – they don’t really count on a herp survey, but they were so cool!)

Brown Snake

Spotted Salamander

Worm Snake

Millipede

We also found two black racers – snakes that are known for being fast.  One of the racers was in a somewhat odd micro-habitat.  It was about 5 feet off the ground hanging on a small tree growing on the edge of a cliff.

Northern Black Racer Snake

We continued herping (searching for reptiles and amphibians) throughout the morning.  It was hard work hiking through the brush, lifting logs and turning over rocks, but we were dedicated to our mission.

Jon the Dedicated Herper

We drove a few miles down to an area of vernal pools, marshes, and wetlands.  We found more herps, including cricket frogs and green frogs.  One of the green frogs was also in a somewhat strange spot (for a green frog), he was about 3 feet up on the side of a tree stump.

Green Frog in a Normal Green Frog Place

Green Frog in a Not So Normal Place

Cricket Frog

While in the wetlands, we also found some frog predators.  Many painted turtles were spotted basking on logs.  A large snapping turtle was found in a pond under a log – but he foiled our attempts to take his picture.

Many people believe the myth that venomous cottonmouth (water moccasins) live in the Washington DC area.  They do not.  Our area is too far north for them to survive.  We do, however, have harmless northern water snakes which are often confused with both cottonmouths and copperheads.  Like many snakes, northern water snakes will flatten their bodies and heads to appear more “viper like” when they are threatened which can lead to their mis-identification as a venomous species.

Tough Looking But Harmless - The Northern Water Snake

In the same wetland location, we also found beautiful ribbon snakes.  Ribbon snakes are similar in appearance to their close relatives the garter snakes, but the ribbons are much more slender.

Ribbon Snake

Whew – after all this success we started to get a bit hungry.  So we decided to head back to the meeting site,  eat lunch, and find out how the other teams were doing.

Hungry, Hungry Herpers!

After our short lunch break, we headed back out into the field for more searching.  We discovered more worm snakes, more box turtles, lots more green frogs, more spotted salamanders and we had an encounter with a rarely seen in Fairfax County lizard species, the ground skink.

The Elusive Ground Skink

Deep in the woods, far from any roads or trails, we also discovered a sign of the past.

Dial S for Snake

No copperhead snakes were found during the entire survey.  Over 40 dedicated reptile specialists searching a large area of protected forest and no copperheads.  This is actually normal.  Copperheads are not nearly as common as some people believe.  Copperheads are also shy and afraid of humans.  They will only bite if they feel threatened.  So, you know, leave snakes alone.

We did, however, find a venomous species of arachnid hiding under a log:

Black Widow Spider

Around 5 pm, we headed back to meet up with the other teams and share our data collection for the day. The VHS president Kory Steele was there adding up all the numbers from each team. Soon, we would learn which team found the most animals.
Guess which team won? Well, as Kory reminded me, this was not a contest. Our mission was to collect data to assist with the conservation of reptiles and amphibians. (Ok, but our team won – we found 57 individual herps representing 17 species – woo hoo woo hoo!)
All of the animals we found that day were left in the spot we found them. Well, except for two animals – alien invaders were found in a turtle sampling trap.

The mouth of an ALIEN!

The aliens were the Frankenfish – the Northern Snake-head! Apparently, there is now a large breeding population of these introduced exotic fish in the Potomac River and its tributaries in the Mason Neck/Pohick Bay area. This new invader could cause unknown consequences on our native fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects and possibly even birds and mammals. Surveys such as the one the VHS teams completed at Mason Neck are crucial for the protection and conservation of our wildlife.
We had a sssssssuper ssssssssuccessful Ssssssssssaturday. It was snaketacular.

Information on the Virginia Herpetological Society: http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/
Information on Mason Neck State Park: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/mas.shtml

To see more pictures of our herp search at Mason Neck, visit our Facebook page.

Hmmm, I wonder if he will become Prince Charming?

Hello,
You recently came to my school and preformed for us. I was amazed with the reptiles you brought!
My mom said I can choose a new pet and I wanted a snake! But when I told my mom I wanted a snake she said “it can’t bite that often! And try to find a snake that won’t eat us!” So I have been looking online but I am having a hard time finding one that fits that profile! Can you help me? Or are there any places around Lorton that sell snakes that are well taken for? Thank you!

Hi-

We do not generally recommend snakes as pets. They are more difficult to care for properly than most people imagine and often become sick, unwanted or worse.

However, if you are committed to caring for your pet properly, I highly suggest adopting a snake instead of purchasing one from the pet store. Since snakes don’t make good pets, there are many, many snakes at animal rescue groups and shelters.

All snakes will bite – so if you get a pet snake, expect that it will bite you at least sometimes.

A few snakes that are typically available in rescue groups that do not get more than 6 feet long:
Ball python
Corn snake
King snake

Please do a lot of research on each of these species BEFORE making you decision. Make an appointment with a veterinarian who treats reptiles.  In the northern Virginia area we recommend Stahls Exotic Animal Veterinary Clinic.

Make the appointment for the week of your adoption so that your animal can get a check up and you can be sure that you have all the right equipment and information to properly care for your pet.

Here are few possible places where you can adopt a snake:

The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria Animal Shelter

Virginia Reptile Rescue

There are many other animal rescue groups that adopt reptiles to the public.  You can do a search for “reptile rescue” and find many of them.

Good luck!

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Our first find was one of the most common vertebrate creatures in the eastern United States:  the red-backed salamander.

Red Backed Salamanders

Red backed salamanders come in three different colors:  red backed, yellow backed and black or “lead” backed.

A "lead backed" red backed salamander

Red backed salamanders are different from many other amphibians.  They are members of the lungless group of salamanders – so they get all their oxygen absorbed into their blood stream through their slimy skin.  They also lay their eggs on land and the the larvae go through metamorphosis in the egg.  So, red backed salamanders never have to leave the land to lay eggs in the water the way most amphibians do.

Toads, on the other hand, must return to the water each year to mate and lay eggs.  At Hemlock, the woods were alive with the pleasant music of male toads singing to attract females.

American Toad

The male will “hug” the female (the science word for this toad hug is amplexus), and the female will lay hundreds of eggs encased in gelatinous goo into the water.

American Toads

In a few weeks, the temporary pools in our area will be filled with millions of black tadpoles that will quickly grow tiny legs and metamorphose into tiny toadlets.  To attract insect and slug eating toads into your garden, consider adding a toad home

We did not find any snakes on our trip at Hemlock, but the next day, one of Caroline’s neighbors called her to come and get a visitor out of her bathroom.

Baby Black Rat Snake removed from a bathroom!

Yep, I would definitely say that herpetological spring has sprung!

Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis

Reptiles Alive Name: “Soy”

Hissstory: Soy was transferred to Reptiles Alive from another wildlife education organization in April 2008.

RA Diet: Frozen mice that are defrosted and warmed up before being served.  Mmm mmm good!

Natural Diet: Milk snakes will eat small mammals, eggs, and other reptiles – even other snakes!

Range: You can find Honduran milk snakes in Nicaragua, Northeastern Costa Rica, and the Caribbean slope of Honduras.

Habitat: Honduran milk snakes live on the forest floor of tropical rain forests.

Size: Honduran milk snakes are one of the largest species of milk snake in the world!  They can grow over 5 feet long.

Lifespan: Milk snakes typically live around 20 years.

Reproduction: Female milk snakes lay 3-24 eggs which hatch in around 10 weeks.

Conservation: Due to their beautiful colors, milk snakes are highly valued in the wild animal pet trade.  Even though these snakes are pretty, they don’t make good pets for most people.  Like all snakes, they will not play with you or want to cuddle.  Most pet reptiles end up unwanted, sick, or worse.
Cool Facts: Milk snakes use quick, jerky movements so that their bands flash, startling predators. Their bright colors signal danger and often confuse predators, making these snakes hard to follow. Other animals in the rain forest may use the same defense such as colorful parrots and highly venomous coral snakes, which milk snakes resemble.

Some people say the poem “Red touch yellow, kill a fellow.  Red touch black, venom lack” to help them remember if a snake is venomous or not.  The problem is,  there are SO MANY different species and subspecies of milk and coral snakes that the poem does not always work!  So at Reptiles Alive, we teach you this poem:

Red touch yellow, leave snakes alone.

Red touch black, leave snakes alone.