Knowing Poisonous Snakes
Snakes often do more good than harm.
May/June 2009
Amber Lanier Nagle
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A copperhead finds shelter among old pots and leaves.
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Early in the summer as I flip-flopped down the wooden steps in our backyard, I was surprised by a sudden, slithering movement beside my foot. Fueled by adrenaline, I leapt 10 feet high, spun midair with the skill of an Olympic ski jumper, and landed several feet away. I instantly ran through a mental checklist: large triangular head; thick, heavy body; brown and tan hourglass pattern; vertical pupils. “COPPERHEAD!” my mind screamed, and I watched in horror as the snake disappeared down a hole in my flowerbed.
We live in a wooded area, and we had seen lots of wildlife, including several nonpoisonous rat snakes, king snakes and black racers. We didn’t mind them. In fact, we found them interesting. But seeing the copperhead so close to our house left us a bit unsettled.
Fifty-one percent of us confess some anxiety towards snakes. Twenty percent of us describe ourselves as downright terrified of snakes, yet a human is more likely to be killed in a car accident or by a lightning strike than from a snakebite. Unfortunately, fears and misunderstandings cause many people to kill every snake that they encounter. In my lifetime, I’ve heard many people remark, “The only good snake is a dead snake,” a comment that makes me cringe. We should never kill indiscriminately or take a snake’s role in nature for granted.
Snakes have a job to do
“Every living thing in the natural world has a job to do – every plant, animal and insect on God’s green earth is working together as a team,” says naturalist and renowned herpetologist Okefenokee Joe. “Our existence on this planet depends upon the existence of all life around us, and that includes snakes, too.”
Joe, once known as singer/songwriter Dick Flood, has devoted his life to spreading a message of appreciation and respect for our wildlife, environment and natural resources. He travels the Southeast with a slithering truckload of snakes in tow, thrilling crowds with his Earth Day Every Day educational show. The snakes, his goodwill ambassadors if you will, certainly capture everyone’s attention and get hearts pumping.
“Snakes play a critical role in nature’s food chain – they eat rodents, insects and other reptiles. A snake can eat more than his weight in mice and rats each month,” Joe says. “Left unchecked, rodents can destroy crops and cause costly damage to homes, so snakes are beneficial to have around your farm or yard. Some nonpoisonous snakes, such as king snakes, eat venomous species, too.”
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