Ever since Eve was tempted in the garden by a serpent, snakes have gotten a bad rap. These reptiles are one of the most misunderstood animals in the world. The very sight of one sends some folks running. The fictional adventurer Indiana Jones said it all when he muttered “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”. His fear is shared by many, and an unreasonable fear is called ophidiophobia. The truth is, snakes are enormously beneficial, providing balance to the natural world.
While the Bible associates snakes with Satan, other religions and cultures venerate them. Ancient Mesopotamians, Sumerians, Hittites, Mayan and some Native American tribes admired or worshiped snakes. They believed snakes were immortal, its skin shedding thought to be a sign of eternal life. Gnostic Christians thank the serpent for having brought knowledge of good and evil to mankind. No wonder snakes have an identity crisis.
As a teenager, my daughter had a magnificent corn snake she called Pele, after the Hawaiian goddess of fire. Pele’s orange, red and yellow scales were outlined with distinctive rows of alternating black and white. The name corn snake likely originated from markings similar to kernels of Indian corn. Like most corn snakes, Pele was docile and tolerated being handled. She was a constrictor, a fact my daughter overlooked when buying her. The crickets Lena brought home did not interest Pele in the least. So it was back to the pet store for “pinkies”, newborn mice Pele wrapped in her coils and squeezed to death before swallowing whole.
Corn snakes are stealthy hunters and typically feed every few days. Young hatchlings eat lizards and frogs, while adults feed on mice, rats, birds and bats. They readily climb trees, enter abandoned buildings and prowl through rodent burrows in search of prey. It is this nature to seek out food in tight spaces that make pet snakes adept escape artists.
According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, there are 34 species of snakes in Virginia, although not all reside in our region. Of the 34, only 3 are venomous. All snakes are carnivorous, but how they catch their prey varies. Constrictors suffocate their prey before swallowing them whole. Others latch onto their prey and begin what is called a pterygoid walk, opening up its jaw and ratcheting the toothy parts of its upper jaw over the surface of its prey in a slow motion swallow. Pit vipers rely on venom to disable their prey. This starts the digestive process even before the snake swallows its catch.
A snake’s jaw is structured in a way that allows their mouths to open wider than their body diameter in order to swallow larger prey. The food is then digested over three to five days. If you spot a lethargic snake in warm weather, chances are it has just eaten, and its energy diverted to digestion.
Not all snakes are created equal. Most are egg-layers. Snake eggs are not hard like bird eggs. They are leathery, enabling them to stretch in order to protect the baby inside until the yolk is absorbed and the little snake is ready to survive on its own. Vipers do not lay eggs. They are live-bearing but not in the conventional sense. What appears to be a live birth is not. The female has actually held her eggs inside her body until they hatched internally, then pushed out into the world.
Many of us have been taught that the shape of a snake eyes differentiates between venomous and non-venomous species. The presence or absence of venom has no correlation with pupil shape, and venomous snakes feature a variety of pupil shapes. In North America, where the myth of the correlation between pupil shape and venom may have originated, coral snakes have round pupils.
Their flexibility may make it seem like snakes do not have bones, but snakes can have 300 or more, depending on size and species. Unlike humans and most mammals, snakes have only a few types of bones — skull, jawbone and backbone. Two ribs attach to each vertebra, but do not form a rib cage. This allows for expansion when ingesting large prey.
NON-VENOMOUS
They may slither on their bellies, but they can move with incredible speed. From the Southe
rn Black Racer that can reach speeds of ten miles per hour to the slower Eastern Rat Snake, our region’s black snakes are extremely beneficial. During warm weather months, they are the one snake most likely to show up in your garden. They devour large quantities of mice, voles, rats, baby rabbits and squirrels. They will not tolerate being picked up and will release a foul smelling musk if provoked. If threatened, they can vibrate their tails to mimic a rattlesnake.
The Eastern Hognose is one of our most fascinating snakes. With an upturned snout, its brown scales with alternating shades of red, orange or yellow makes it often mistaken for Copperh
eads. When alarmed, it will flatten its head and neck and hiss loudly. If further provoked, it will roll over onto its back and play dead. Turn it over, and it will roll over again! Surprisingly, they rarely bite. Toads, insects and other amphibians are its principal food.
If there are snakes one admires, it is the small and slender Eastern Gartersnake, the Rough Green Snake and the Eastern Ribbon Snake with its distinctive yellow or white stripes. They are extremely agile and active. When alarmed, they quickly disappear into the vegetation. If escape is impossible, they will sometimes flatten their head and body and strike forcefully. Adults will also spray musk from glands located at the base of the tail to discourage predators.
The beautiful Scarlet Kingsnake, with its bright pattern of red, black and yellow or white bands is often mistaken for its venomous cousin, the Eastern Coral Snake, whose range is much further south. There
have been many rhyming phrases to differentiate the two, but the easiest one to remember is “red face, I’m safe”, as opposed to the prominent black snout of the coral snake.
Watersnakes are non-venomous but notoriously ill-tempered. Most often seen in freshwater streams, ponds and lakes, The Northern and Brown Watersnakes have the reputation for being aggressive and are often mistaken for Cottonmouths. They bask on logs at the water’s edge and frequently climb up into overhanging tree limbs. Boaters skirting the shore are startled when one drops into their boat. They bite readily, thus earning the reputation of being venomous. Sadly, their ill temperaments cause many to be killed.
PIT VIPERS
We all know their names: Copperhead, Northern Cottonmouth (Water Moccasin) and Rattlesnake. The
better you know their habits and habitats, the less likely you are to encounter them or panic if you do.
Copperheads are responsible for most venomous bites in Virginia. With their distinctive hourglass pattern, coppery-brown head and elliptical eyes, these snakes often hide beneath boards, pieces of tin, and old sawdust piles. Copperheads can be found anywhere, whether in the forest or on a golf green. Surprisingly non-aggressive, they usually only bite when provoked or stepped upon. They are more likely to stay perfectly still in hopes of being overlooked. Fortunately, copperhead bites are not typically lethal, and the first strike may be what is called a dry bite, a bite with no venom injected, but any bite needs prompt medical attention.
If you have ever seen a Cottonmouth open its jaws wide, you will quickly understand how it earned its name. Starkly white like cotton and with large venom glands, the cottonmouth is huge, their heads massively-shaped triangles with dark stripes near each nostril with pale snouts. People tell lots of tall tales about cottonmouths, but they do not routinely fall out of trees into boats. They are not great climbers, preferring logs,
stumps or low bushes.
Cottonmouths are often confused with harmless watersnakes, but there is a key difference: A cottonmouth swims with its head and much of its body out of the water. A watersnake keeps its head above water, but most or all of its body lies below the surface. Fortunately, our region is in the Cottonmouth’s extreme northern range so the likelihood of confronting one is remote.
Canebrake Rattlesnakes refer to the southeastern population found in Virginia. Generally, they are called Timber rattlers. As with all rattlesnakes, they are extremely dangerous and will vigorously defend
themselves if provoked. Canebrakes can be found in fields bordered by forest, swamps, and pocosins. When discovered, these snakes usually remain still or attempt to escape. Feeling cornered, they will rapidly coil, raise their heads to reveal sharp fangs, and rattle their tails as much as 90 times a second. Rattlesnakes can strike in less than a single blink of a human eye.
Pele slipped out of her terrarium one day. We knew she was still in the house by evidence of her shed skin found in the linen closet and underneath the sink cabinets. A year later she was found coiled up inside a desk drawer. Having a snake loose in the house creeped me out, but I will say we went an entire year without seeing a mouse.