Fear not, dear readers, I’ve come back from the haunts of coot, hern and an inexplicably large number of snakes.
I did not die, nor did I come anywhere close to dying, even when we encountered an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake somewhere on a stretch of county road down in Covington County.
Dr. Gentry, almost Dr. Cooner and I made our way down to Andalusia Friday with backpacks, a cooler full of drinks and food and an extreme desire to find a laundry list of rare and interesting snakes: the indigo snake, the scarlet snake and the ever-elusive coral snake.
Thankfully, Observer Editor Fred Woods took it upon himself to make sure I enlisted the help of Dr. Bob Mount, noted columnist and eminent herpetologist, the man who literally wrote the book on reptiles and amphibians in Alabama. At coffee with the self-proclaimed “Geezers,” Mount gave me a copy of said book and wished me well on my trek.
I was happy to have that book when being asked by Cooner if I would like to hold various snakes. I could flip through Mount’s book to make sure my dear friend wasn’t trying to hand me something that would bite or maim me for comedic effect.
All in all, we came across 15 snakes down in Conecuh, some in the forest along its varied trails and some simply basking in the heat on the rural paved roads of Covington and Escambia counties.
We turned over logs and looked under brush — well, I say “we.” Gentry and Cooner did. I stood behind them and scribbled notes.
Their keen eyesight and skill could show them exactly what they were looking for; I just saw dirt.
We never came across the rare coral snake, but we did manage to stumble upon some indigo snakes thanks to our friend Sybil, who helped get us information that led us to the site of Project Orianne, a venture between Auburn University, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources designed to help bolster the indigo snake population in Alabama.
Very few people have been able to claim to have seen indigo snakes in the wild, but we got to, albeit briefly.
The scariest moment of the excursion, for me, came when encountering the previously mentioned diamondback rattlesnake on the road.
We thought, at first glance, it might have been dead, but when Dr. Gentry tapped the snake with the stick, the ominous rattle began.
I’ve been afraid of snakes my entire life, but when I observed the rattlesnake's behavior, I couldn’t help but notice it was defensive, but reluctant to attack. It attacked only when greatly provoked, and was more than content to sit still and watch us if it could.
All the snakes we encountered acted similarly.
Despite their horrible reputations throughout literature and popular culture, snakes are actually quite kind and unintrusive. They are bothersome only if bothered, and, even then, they’ll spend more time trying to avoid you than attack you.
Perhaps because of their looks, they’re thought of as evil or malicious, but they do serve a vital and necessary role in preserving Alabama’s increasingly fragile ecology.
Snakes are, for lack of a better, less hackneyed phrase, our friends.
We may not love them, Lord knows I don’t, but we should and must respect the role they play in our environment.
If we do not attempt to preserve and protect these creatures, future generations may be unable to see their beauty, and we may no longer have the pristine, beautiful natural settings we currently enjoy.
I’ve already signed up for another expedition with my slightly insane amateur herpetologist friends, perhaps to the Everglades.
In spite of myself, I’ve rather come to enjoy snake hunting.
Huzzah for that.
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