Changing how people view and treat snakes
On a balmy August night, Melissa and I headed up a canyon near our home. We had explored this area during the day, but recent night visits revealed orb-weaver spiders, rattlesnakes and vinegaroons hunting under cover of night. Though the pine forest air cools off quickly after sunset, rocky canyonsides hold heat a bit longer, …
This article was written by Emily Taylor, PhD, a member of the ASP Board of Directors. 2020 has been a rough year. COVID-19, unemployment, natural disasters, and cancelled travel plans have wreaked havoc on our health and psyches. Snakes haven’t been spared, either. With so many people on lockdown or out of work, there were …
In August, 2018, we were blessed by one of the most exciting and interesting wildlife observations in recent memory -– and it happened right outside our door! We did our best to film and photo document what we saw, and we are excited to bring the saga back to life in this series of posts. …
This article was written by Gordon M. Burghardt, PhD, a member of the ASP Board of Directors. Sociality in reptiles, particularly snakes, has been long misunderstood and even denied. Today it is well-established that many crocodilians have complex courtship rituals and parental care that is far more extensive than that found in many birds and …
A Tale of Two Trash Snakes Part 5 Read: A Tale of Two Trash Snakes Part 4 What would a downpour do to Carol’s scent trail? It’s already been a couple of days since she passed over the ground here – did Daryl miss his chance at love, at least for now? The ground is …
To celebrate ASP’s fifth birthday, we’re sharing five inspiring stories with you — a new one each week through the end of 2019. Read them all here. Late this summer we visited one of our study sites after a near two-year absence. It was nesting season and though we saw fewer snakes than in years …
A Tale of Two Trash Snakes Part 4 Read: A Tale of Two Trash Snakes Part 3 The day Carol showed up, we checked under the truck bed liner to find Daryl still coiled in a hunting posture under its downhill edge. “There are two lepidus in the yard…” we would say to one another …
This year we were blessed by one of the most exciting and interesting wildlife observations in recent memory -– and it happened right outside our door! We did our best to film and photo document what we saw, and we are excited to bring the saga back to life in a series of upcoming posts. …
We got a chance to visit some old friends recently and made some new ones. Just a gorgeous female Arizona black rattlesnake enjoying a warm spring day. Adult Arizona black rattlesnakes chilling near their den. How many do you see? (find the answer key at the bottom of this page) Whipsnakes may have …
My favorite example of convergent evolution is that between old (e.g., lappet-faced vulture) and new (e.g., turkey vulture) world vultures. Both groups of scavenging birds fill the same niche in their habitat and look so much alike that scientists classified them together until we had genetic tools to tell us otherwise. Turns out that new …