How to Coexist with Snakes: Myths, Facts, and Safety Tips

In this episode, Rick Schwartz explores the fascinating world of snakes, debunking myths, sharing interesting facts, and offering practical advice for coexisting with these vital creatures. Learn how to identify, respect, and live alongside snakes safely and responsibly.

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Podcast Music: Positive Carefree Folk Pop
Artist: Burgberg
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The first thing you should do if you come across a snake on your property or in or in your yard, you simply go to the shed and get yourself a shovel. Now, not one of the small handled hand-trowel ones, but I'm talking about a big shovel that's a spade shape with a sharp edge. Uh you want to grab it with both hands and hold your hands about even with eye level and then slam it down as hard as you can into the ground. You're going to loosen up the soil that way so you can dig a nice hole. Then once you've you've done that, you go to the plant store, your local plant nursery, and ask specifically for a native plant species. When you get home with that, you plant it in the ground, you tend to it, and by that time, the snake has moved on to enjoy life, just like you should too. I'm Rick Schwartz, educator, public speaker, and all-around curious guy. Over the years, my curiosity and experiences, along with the many people I have worked with, revealed to me we all have a desire to feel connected to the natural world. You're listening to Animals, Nature, and You, a podcast that explores a connection between animals, nature, and humans. A podcast that celebrates learning more, following our curiosity, and reconnecting with the natural world. Welcome to another 10-minute Tuesday here in Animals, Nature, and You. I'm your host, Rick Schwartz, and as you know, I am very glad you're here. Before we get started, too, let me just say if you're new here, if someone sent this video or podcast episode to you, please know I need you to listen all the way through. The thing is, uh, there's been a whole lot going on recently on social media for some reason, and maybe it's just the way the algorithm feeds me animal stuff, where there's been a lot of conflict with snakes, or I should say, snakes experiencing conflict with humans. The thing is, is this might be caused for a wide variety of reasons, whether it is environmental changes, whether it's humans are encroaching more and more into wild spaces, whatever it might be. I'm not here to solve that right now. What I want to do, because there's a lot of, there's a lot of things I'd like to say to people who think it they it's their responsibility to kill snakes. But instead, I'm hopeful because I know there's a lot of psychology around how we react when someone tells us something we believe is right is wrong, and it it causes even more challenges. So I want to approach this from the wildlife educator world that I come from and hopefully instill a bit of curiosity and understanding around the species to hopefully that if someone shared this with you, you you are able to look at this and go, well, I still don't like snakes necessarily, but I understand them a little better and I can I can respect that they they just can live their life. So let's get started, shall we? We're gonna jump right into the animal facts first and then talk about a few things we can do to strategize living in shared spaces with snakes. To start off, though, one of the big top ones I used to get when I was handling snakes in an educational presentation was aren't they slimy? They look so slimy. They are not slimy. They look wet and slimy because they're actually very dry and very smooth. Think of a well-waxed floor, a polished tile floor, or perhaps some, if you're into cars like a well-waxed car, when it's done right and they're nice and smooth, they get a shine to them that almost makes it look like they're wet. That's exactly what's happening with snakes. Now there are other reptile species out there with uh bumpier scales that it's not as shiny, usually lizard species. There are some snakes that have bumpy scales too, but even on their belly though, most every snake, nice, smooth what we call scutes or the longer scales on the belly. That smoothness allows for minimum friction so they can move across the surface quite easily. If they're if they were slimy, it'd be like a slug or a snail, I suppose, right? And well, they they'd leave mucus behind, they'd have to create that mucus, it'd be a much slower process in moving. So there's that fun fact for you. They aren't slimy. Another fun fact I often heard when doing wildlife education presentations or just in general talking to people about snakes, that if they're flicking their tongue, it means they're about to strike. This is not true. It's really actually very fascinating why they're flicking their tongue. In fact, here's another side tangent animal fact for you. If they're not flicking their tongue in and out and they're being very still, that's how you can usually tell they're asleep. You didn't know. They they don't have eyelids, they don't close their eyes when they sleep. We'll get to that one in a second. Back to the tongue. So you and I, when we smell something, let's let's go with something good, right? Let's go with uh one of my favorites, chocolate chip cookies, freshly baked. Oh, you just you can't help but inhale, right? Or if it's something stinky, you hold your breath. Because we can perceive the sense of smell by bringing air into our nose. We have receptor cells there that tell us what we're smelling. It's picking up these microscopic particles that are in the air. They land in those uh nasal receptor cells and then goes into our brain to tell us what it is. Snakes do have noses, they have nostrils up front, and they they can bring air in and out with those, but there are no receptor cells in there for processing smell. What they have instead is a cluster of these cells in the roof of their mouth called the Jacobson's organ. A lot of other species have this too. They flick that tongue in and out because they're gathering those same particles. You and I would smell with our nose, but they're gathering them on their tongue. The tongue brings it back in and then they can process a smell. So they aren't really smelling with their tongue. You might have heard someone say that before, that's they smell with their tongue. It is a vehicle to get those cells or sorry, those particles into the receptor cells where then they actually smell it. Now, the one cool fact, one there's so many cool facts. One more cool fact I should say about snakes, the forked tongue or split tongue, because of that, when they bring the tongue into the mouth, whatever side of the tongue, whichever piece of the tongue has more of the scent molecules, that tells them that's where the scent is stronger, and they know to either go that way if they're looking for food that they're picking up the scent on, or if it's dangerous to not go that way. So pretty cool that they can smell their environment almost almost in a three-dimensional way because of that forked tongue. It's pretty cool. Back to the eyes, though. I mentioned when they're sleeping, they tend they don't flick their tongue in and out, so it's not always definitely they're asleep when they're not flicking their tongue in and out, but they're resting. They're not they're not worried about their environment, so they might be sleeping. And then of course that led me to say there's no eyelids. So what's that about? Well, a lot of myths are around the fact that they're staring intently at you because they they want to put a little trance on you and they're gonna then strike at you when you're you're in this trance. If you're old school like me, the original jungle book with Mowgli, uh, I believe it was Cod the Snake, used to do that rainbow flicker of his eye saying, trust in me, and it was putting Mowgli in this trance. That's just a myth. They have to stare. They don't have a choice. If they I bet if they had a choice, they probably wouldn't, but they don't have a choice. They have these clear eye caps made of the same material as their skin over their eyes. So the eyes are protected, but in a different way than mammals who would be able to blink, or lizards even who can blink. And one other thing about the eyes, while we're on eyes, there's uh another myth out there. If there's a a slit versus a round pupil, you can tell if it's poisonous or venomous. I'm sorry, but no. If you don't know from a safe visual distance if they're poisonous or venomous, then please don't approach. It doesn't matter. Just leave them alone. It's it's not your business to try and look at their pupils at that point. And it is a myth because it doesn't hold true across all species of snakes around the world. Last but not least, the myth that they're cold-blooded. There's nothing in their body that generates cold blood. The term cold blood is a little misleading in the sense that it makes us think their body is cold. Their body is ectothermic, meaning they rely on outside temperature to regulate their temperature. That's why often snake bites can happen while hiking in the mornings when the sun has just come out, because snakes are going to find a clear area to get directly in the sun to warm up. Unfortunately, that can be a path. Little nugget for you here. If you're hiking along and you happen to see a snake in front of you, don't immediately jump and run back. Look behind you first and then step back. You might have been, while enjoying the sights around you, stepped over one that was basking out there and didn't even realize you stepped over it. So if you step back really quickly, you might actually end up stepping on that other snake. So just be thoughtful and aware of your environment, especially in the morning hours when the sun's out, when they might be basking, or even early afternoon. And that brings me also then to the fact that not every snake is venomous. In fact, snakes that are venomous are usually only using their venom to hunt, the last resort to try and bite to save themselves. Unfortunately, we do see in a lot of dogs the bites happen in the face because the dogs like to sniff and smell and try to identify this. And the snake's like, look, I see nothing but nose and teeth. You're trying to get me, I'm cornered, I'm gonna strike to try and defend myself. Here's the thing. I heard I heard a naturalist say this once, and it did make sense. You should no more have your dog off leash while out on a hike in natural spaces than you would if you're walking along the freeway. And the meaning there is that of course we can look at that and think, well, I would never walk a dog in the freeway, much less walk myself on the freeway, much less have a dog off-leash on the freeway. It is irresponsible. It is clear danger. When we're out in natural spaces, we have to realize there are other species that this is their home, whether it's a snake or a coyote or a bobcat, and having your dog roam and follow its nose, and yes, it's a it's a good time for the dog, it's also irresponsible and rather dangerous because you're putting your dog in harm's way, even though you're not meaning to. So something to think about there. So, what should you really do if you come across a snake on your property or out on a hike? The best thing is to stop, take a picture of it, enjoy it, walk around or wait for it to leave, and then walk and continue the direction you're going, whatever it might be. Harassing it, trying to kill it or injure it is only going to result in you getting harmed or the snake getting harmed or all the above. Also keep in mind, like I said, not all snakes are venomous. In fact, there are a lot of non-venomous snakes that eat venomous snakes, that they share habitat. If you don't know how to clearly identify this animal, you may be thinking, oh, I'm going to kill this venomous snake, which, again, bad idea. You are actually causing damage to a species that helps keep venomous snakes in check. All of these animals keep each other in balance. This here is for in the United States or North America, where there are snakes that do eat rattlesnakes. So there's king snakes, there's the the indigo, or that's excuse me, the the eastern and Texas indigo snake, uh, there's a coachwick, there's a gopher snake or b uh bull snake, depending upon where you live, what they're called as far as common name. And a lot of people will will mistake gopher snakes for rattlesnakes because they have similar colorations but a very different pattern. If you if you don't know it, just leave it be. There are also many snake species that'll purposely shake their tail in hopes of hitting leaf litter or grasses to make a noise to alert a possible danger or threat that, hey, I'm here, don't step on me. Doesn't mean they're a rattlesnake that lost a rattle. The best thing to do, again, is just keep give them their space. And here's the thing: if they're near your property, if they're in the area, it's because there's a food source there. There's a rodent population there. Predators are not going to hang out where food is not available. So if you see a snake in your area, it means it's helping to keep the rodent population in check, which a rodent infestation is much worse than having a snake traveling through your property. Again, I'm not here to shame you or tell you you've done bad things. I want to create an opportunity where you might have an appreciation. Doesn't mean you gotta love them, doesn't mean they gotta be your best friends. But if you can look at them from afar and go, okay, I'm gonna let you be a snake, I'm gonna go dig, I'm gonna dig a hole and put in a native plant and live my life, and you go live your life, and and I appreciate what you do for the environment. But I don't I don't like you, so I'm not gonna talk to you, we're not gonna be friends. I'm sure the snake won't mind that. The snake will not take offense. And with that, then too, you can live your life and enjoy your life. Be responsible, pet owner, be responsible for your property. Doesn't mean you have to exterminate these animals. It means you just can live your life by properly creating space where where they're not gonna come in, or if you're in their space, keep yourself in check, keep an eye out for them, be respectful. So, with that, we're gonna wrap this up. And if you are a subscriber, if you are someone who's followed this podcast, you're in the animals and nature and you community. I didn't share anything with you, you probably didn't know. But I will ask you to do this. If you know somebody in your life who doesn't like snakes, would rather see a dead one than a live one. Maybe you could share this with them. Maybe we can create a space where there's a little more empathy and thought and curiosity. Again, you don't gotta love them, but maybe an opportunity where there's a little more understanding that every living creature here on this planet has its place and it's not our place to displace it. I should write that down. Okay, this is again, as always, has gone over 10 minutes. Thank you all very much for joining me on this curious odyssey we call Animals Nature and You. If you haven't already, please subscribe or follow because every Tuesday we have these 10-minute Tuesdays where we talk about a particular species or something going on in the world that has to do with animals, nature, and people. And then every Thursday we have interviews with awesome people doing awesome work, whether it's in conservation or in education for wildlife or even nature schools. And I do encourage you, if you haven't already, go back and check out some of the old episodes. If you haven't watched or heard them, and by watching, I mean that we're on YouTube and we're also on every podcast player. With that, you can find out more about me and sort of the hub of information at zoologyrick.com. That's my website. And then, of course, there's links down below for all my social media and Animals Nature New is on Instagram as well. That's gonna do it. We're gonna wrap it up. Thank you all so much for being here. Have a good one, everybody.