Rita LeBleu

rlebleu@americanpress.com

Leave it alone

Snakes get to moving when temperatures rise, and plenty of folks get to moving when they see snakes. According to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, “most of Louisiana’s snakes are harmless, and many are beneficial as predators of insects and rodents…. The fear of snakes in general, and particularly the venomous species, can be alleviated by understanding the behavior of snakes, and the limits of the threat they may pose to humans.”

Some readers will be bobbing their heads in agreement with this statement, and others will be shaking their heads in disagreement, knowing regardless of the amount of snake education they receive they’d rather not encounter a snake of any kind at any time.

“If you see a snake, the best thing to do is leave it alone,” said Kori DeGleu-Buxton, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries wildlife biologist supervisor. “This is by far the safest option for you and the snake.”

Many times threatening the snake is what causes it to bite, she said.

Lake Charles Memorial Emergency Medicine treated seven patients for venomous snakebites in 2018.

It’s difficult to identify snakes. A lot of them look alike. And few people want to look at enough of them in photos or in the grass often enough to become expert IDers.

“Most snakes are pretty secretive,” DeGleu-Buxton said. “However, the vast majority in this area are non venomous.”

Generally speaking, the state of Louisiana has over 40 different types of nonvenomous snakes and seven venomous snakes, the Harlequin coral snake, the Texas coral snake, the pygmy rattlesnake, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the cottonmouth, the copperhead and the caneback rattlesnake.

Rattlesnakes give birth to live rattlesnakes. The other snakes lay eggs.

When people in Southwest Louisiana are bitten by a venomous snake, it is generally a cottonmouth — also known as a water moccasin — or a copperhead, the two most common venomous in the area.

“Cottonmouths are generally associated with the water, and we have plenty of that around here,” DeGleu-Buxton said. “Copperheads are generally found more in the uplands and woods, but they do show up occasionally in the yard or garden.”

Not all swimming snakes are water moccasins.

“There are a variety of nerodia or swimming snakes,” she said. “The markings are similar and nonvenomous water snakes are regularly confused with cotton mouths. If you get close enough (and she chuckled after she said this), you can see the stripes along the mouth or lips that cottonmouths don’t have.”

The coral snake remains hidden most of the time in dry, wooded areas favoring pinelands and mixed forest. These brightly colored banded black, yellow and red snakes can get up to three feet long, and most readers have probably heard the cautionary saying, “Red touches black, friend to Jack. Red touches yellow, kill a fellow.”

The milk snake looks similar to a coral snake, but the red bands of this snake don’t touch the yellow.

The coral snake doesn’t strike. However, it is venomous.

There is no species that is considered to be a ground rattler. There is a Pygmy rattlesnake, which is venomous.

“I have lots of calls about ground rattlers,” DeGleu-Buxton said. “So far, these have turned out to be the cave brown snake.”

The cave brown snake will strike. Many small snakes shake their tails, often disturbing surrounding leaves. It is a defense strategy. Nonvenomous snakes can bite.

Almost all snakes can flatten their heads to resemble the shape of what many believe distinguish the venomous snake from the nonvenomous snake.

“It’s a tactic to avoid being preyed upon by the creature threatening it,” she said.

The speckled king snake eats other snakes, rodents and it’s easy to identify because of its bright black and yellow speckles.

There is no chicken snake species, per se. The most common snake found in the hen house is the rat snake.

“The most common nonvenomous snake encountered in the six-parish area is, by far, the rat snake, said DeGleu-Buxton. “That’s the one we get the most pictures of. They are adapted to live anywhere. They’re excellent climbers.”

Subspecies of the rat snake includes the Texas rat snake and the gray rat snake.. She has often had to remove these rat snakes from her wood duck boxes, and yes, she has been bitten.

“Not my favorite part of the job,” she said.

She has never been bitten by a venomous snake.

“And I plan to keep it that way,” she said.

If you are bitten by a venomous snake, head straight to the hospital. Don’t stop for ice and don’t try to use a snakebite kit, which delays medical attention.

To remove a snake from the home, the best strategy is to call a nuisance wildlife control operator.