Year of the Snake

"The Serpent was far more crafty than any of the wild animals that God made in Eden." - Genesis 3:1 

 I found my first snake of the year on April 18th, approximately 4:30 PM. We had some decent cloud cover all throughout the week, but on this day the sun managed to show her face for a bit to warm up rocks and scales. 

    I seldom find snakes under structure in PA. I see a lot of herpers online post videos of them finding snakes under logs, rocks, sheet metal, and other crevices, yet I have not yet ventured into laying down my own sheet metal for snake cover, and most of the ones I find are sunning themselves in open fields, on top of rock piles, or wherever they can get the most warmth.

     I've been finding a lot of snakes by walking along the edges of fields, slowly, dragging my feet across the weight of the Earth, as if to not step on one, as if they were slow and stupid enough to fall beneath my boots (they aren't, unless paralyzed by lack of sun). Any rustle in the brush elicits a stop and closer inspection. Usually, a field mouse, large grasshopper, is the knocker. However, occasionally you'll see a whip-tailed little serpent slithering away from danger, giving an opportunity to grab it, as long as you don't see the hollowed-death-rattle of a timber rattler or the triangular heads bursting with venom of a copperhead, our two venomous snakes in the Keystone State. This tactic caught me my first few snakes of the year, a pair of beautiful garters and a possible black racer that managed to get away. 

    I've recently become a volunteer for the PA Amphibian and Reptile Survey (PARS). The site provides a database where herpers in PA are able to involve themselves in citizen science by logging any herpetological encounters in the field. I'd highly encourage all to join: 

https://paherpsurvey.org/