Changing how people view and treat snakes
Changing how people view and treat snakes
Not all snake combat is as gentle as that of the Panamint Rattlesnakes described so beautifully by Ceal in The Art of Gentle Combat. In May 2011, we stumbled upon a Gophersnake love triangle and were shocked by their rough and ruthless tactics. We noticed a long, dark form on the dirt road from afar.
Gophersnakes Play Rough Read More »
A Tale of Two Trash Snakes Part 1 Well into our second summer, we didn’t have much hope left that we’d moved to serpent’s paradise. We had traded the city for the Gila National Forest with high hopes of snakes on our doorstep, but with each passing, snakeless day, we questioned whether our forested, northern
I’ve already dedicated a post to gophersnakes and how I adore them, but since we’re almost certain to see one this weekend, they deserve another mention. Gophersnakes (Pituophis catenifer), or a close relative (bullsnakes, pine snakes), are found nearly throughout the United States. They can be very large (up to 6 feet in length!), but
Countdown to Snake Count: 2… Read More »
The Center for Snake Conservation has designated Fridays as Rattlesnake Friday, a day to promote the welfare of rattlesnakes by dispelling a common snake myth, and talking to others about the amazing ecology and natural history of rattlesnakes (for example). It’s part of their overall mission to promote snake conservation through education, which is very
A very happy un-rattlesnake Friday Read More »
Everyone thinks of me as a rattlesnake girl and I totally am. But nothing makes me happier than seeing a gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer). As I followed Jeff down the hill where Luna was hanging out last week, he suddenly appeared to be falling: running/sliding while occasionally putting his hand down as if to steady himself.
In 2011, the Center for Snake Conservation started a twice yearly Snake Count “to map and track snake distributions across North America.” Additionally, the goal of Snake Count is to get everyone (not just scientists) to take an interest in the snakes they see and get involved in conservation. In Arizona, May is typically hot
Snake Count Spring 2012 Read More »
Or rather, has been here (I’m a little behind in posting :-)). After many boring weeks of tracking our rattlesnakes and seeing almost nothing (we were sometimes able to glimpse a few inches of two of the Arizona black rattlesnakes), nearly all of them have now emerged from their dens. The first signs of spring
(if you haven’t already, see part 1) When we left our 3 gophersnakes, Bluto had just interrupted courtship between Popeye and Olive Oyl and was biting Popeye repeatedly along his body. Popeye released his bite-grip on Olive Oyl and she fled so fast that we were unable to follow. Bluto continued biting Popeye, making him
Ménage à trois (part 2) Read More »
29 May 2011 – House Rock Valley – Northern Arizona In 1996, The Peregrine Fund reintroduced California condors to northern Arizona. Once down to a mere 22 captives, there are now nearly 200 condors flying free in the southwestern US. We visited northern Arizona in hopes of finding snakes beneath soaring condors. We learned of
Ménage à trois (part 1) Read More »
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