Nature News

By: Carol Suits
Liberty Wildlife Volunteer

By: Gail Cochrane
Liberty Wildlife Volunteer

What a strange and magical creature is a snake!  This cold-blooded animal must regulate its body heat and metabolism by moving towards and away from the warmth of the sun throughout the day and throughout the season.   All snakes do this by utilizing burrows, by alternating nocturnal or crepuscular activity with diurnal activity, and by hibernation. And of course, everywhere they go, their bellies must hug the earth.  No dashing about on fleet feet or soaring on wings for these scaled creatures.

Small and colorful groundsnakes are found in suburban areas around Phoenix as well as in a wide range of wild habitats.  We see them sometimes in our yard, and once a groundsnake ventured in an open door of the house.  Unbeknown to us it hung out under the sofa for awhile. (I hope it found and ate the scorpion I am certain lives under there.)  My husband was in his chair watching golf on tv when the groundsnake came over to cozy up around his nice warm bare feet.  A lot of things happened pretty quickly after that, but the good news is everyone was fine and the groundsnake got back outside where she belonged.  Typically, these helpful snakes eat invertebrates including insects, spiders, scorpions and centipedes.

One of the most beneficial snakes is the beautiful gopher snake.  This reptile thrives in many habitats and eats large quantities of a diverse range of prey.  Think about rats, moles, and even rabbits and how quickly they reproduce, and be glad for gopher snakes.  In early March we discovered a gopher snake sunning against the block wall out back.  This beautifully patterned snake was about three feet long but they can get much larger, up to seven feet. Gopher snakes are often confused with rattlesnakes because of their size, their coloration and their habit of twitching their tail when threatened.  Gopher snakes do not have rattles and are not venomous.

My last snake story concerns a rattlesnake, a well-mannered and non-aggressive one that was crossing the trail when my friend Sue approached.  Sue said she never would have noticed the rattler, but it hissed at her.  I asked if she meant rattled, and she said no, it was just a gentle hiss.  Sue stopped walking and the snake passed on across the trail and moved into the shade of a creosote bush.  This happened just the other day.

Arizona is home to twelve species of rattlesnakes.  These pit vipers are remarkable in ways that fascinate and terrify.  They sense prey, and danger (like Sue) with both their eyes and with heat sensing apparatus that can convey the size of potential prey from thirty feet.  Their retractable fangs fold up inside their jaw until the moment of the bite when muscles rotate them into position to inject poisonous venom.  The venom itself is a mix of enzymes that destroys blood and paralyzes nerves.  This is a formidable predator.

The many extraordinary adaptations of reptiles to varying habitats and varying methods of obtaining prey are not as easily observed as are the habits and actions of birds and mammals.  The secretive nature of snakes makes them intriguing and mysterious additions to our natural environment.  The more we learn about those who share our world, the more we can appreciate the diversity and wonders of nature.