When Dorothy met Glinda in the Land of Oz the question was easy, “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?”
The inquiry is not so easy when Bubba meets a big snake along the creek bank Bubba might just scream like his little sister.
Early summer months are snake time in Oklahoma and as time for mating season approaches the instances of snake encounters always increase. Such begins the discussion on social media about ‘nope ropes’ and that old line, ‘the only good snake is a dead snake.’ In most cases a little knowledge can make those encounters less dramatic.
Herpetologists, those folks who study snakes and other reptiles and amphibians, and amateur “herpers,” the reptile world equivalent of a bird watcher, will say there is no such thing as a “bad” snake. It’s just that some are venomous and some are harmless.
When in doubt, they say, just give the snake a wide berth and, in the vast majority of cases, it will avoid you as well. Snakebite experts commonly note that most bites happen when a snake is cornered to be captured or is otherwise harassed. Accidents also happen, when a foot or hand is placed over a rock, under a branch, or other debris–where a pit viper happens to be waiting for the warm-blooded heat signature of its prey, usually a mouse or other small rodent.
The advice is to avoid wearing open-toed shoes in snake country but to always wear gloves and look before turning over old junk or grabbing a fistful of weeds.
Rattlesnakes don’t curl up and rattle because they plan to attack. The rattle is a warning to stay away.
Oklahoma is home to seven venomous species, a small proportion of the nearly 50 species that have been found within its borders, according to the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
Debates sometimes arise about calling snakes “poisonous.” They are in fact venomous. Venomous animals inject a toxin directly into their prey as opposed to poisonous animals, which contain a toxin within portions of their bodies that causes harm if ingested or touched.
It is indeed easier to learn how to identify the seven venomous species rather than nearly 50.
The list of seven can also be narrowed by learning what snakes might live where you’re going.
Range maps, found in The Field Guide to Oklahoma Amphibians and Reptiles, sold by the Wildlife Department for $20, can help readers identify which snakes live where. Of course, the book also offers a wealth of identification tips.
Social media also comes to the rescue via the Oklahoma Snake Identification Network, a Facebook group with expert administrators who identify snakes in photographs as quickly as they can.
Participants in the group often comment on how much they have learned just by watching the posts of others. Most of the photos are of rat snakes, water snakes, king snakes, and hog-nosed snakes. Others commonly seen in the backyard, like tiny rough earth snakes often found while weeding gardens, and garter snakes on the hunt for insects in the grass often make the page.
Copperheads and water moccasins make plenty of appearances as well as a few rattlesnakes.
Snakes most commonly mistakenly identified as “baddies” are the rat snake and the plain-bellied and diamondback watersnakes. All are harmless but when threatened will flatten their body including their jaw, which gives them the appearance of the triangular head of a water moccasin.
Watersnakes in particular can be rather pugnacious and strike out, an empty threat that sometimes convinces those unsure of its identity to make that strike the snake’s last move.
What the snake experts say in those cases is, if you have to ask, just walk away.
The Oklahoma Ecology Project is a nonprofit dedicated to in-depth reporting on Oklahoma’s conservation and environmental issues. Learn more at okecology.org.
