Wowza, it’s heating up outside! Summertime in (and around) the city presents different issues for snakes. Many people may wonder where all the rattlesnakes are at. Well, it’s a great question to ask and an important one to think about. Don’t worry, the rattlesnakes and harmless snakes are still here and doing their jobs. 😉 Prairie Rattlesnakes (pictured above; aka “nope-ropes” and “buzz tails”) are now more active overnight, or perhaps even late in the day and early morning. Like us, it’s just too hot to be active during the heat of the day. Great, no issues then, right? Well, not necessarily.Overnight, rattlesnakes may hunt for their favorite prey items, which are mostly rodents. If there is considerable rodent activity around your home, then a rattlesnake may find itself near there the area. Be mindful of rattlesnakes seeking cooler areas and prey in places like garages, underneath home foundations and sheds, and near water features. It’s very likely that an area that was snake-free in the evening could now have a snake in the morning. It may stay in this cool place to avoid the heat of the day before moving on again. What can you do?
Do you have a plan if you or your pet is bitten by a rattlesnake? For people we recommend following CDC instructions, which we simplify below:
Of course, there are many other kinds of harmless snakes living and working in this area. More common ones encountered are Bullsnakes, Racers, and Gartersnakes (pictured below). -Photos by Matt Cage and Adaptation Environmental Services Bullsnake (below) Yellow-bellied racer (above) Wandering Gartersnake (below) How do you know if a snake is harmless? Use multiple characteristics to help determine this!
Harmless snakes:
Regardless, we love snakes! You don’t have to. Now you have options. Need us to help identify a snake in a photograph for you? Share it with us on Facebook or Instagram!
1 Comment
Are you looking for things to do with your kiddos while they are out of school this summer? Viewing wildlife can be fun and educational! Colorado is home to over 400 species of birds, and over 80 species of reptiles and amphibians! Kids can engage with nature, learn how to treat it with respect, and take some cool pictures to show off to their friends later. Here are 5 places you can visit to see wildlife this summer.
Remember! Anywhere you go:
If you’ve ever bumped into a rattlesnake in Colorado during a summer hike, chances are it was a Prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). These snakes are the widest ranging venomous snake in Colorado and are sometimes encountered by hikers on trails in the plains and the foothills. Just like people, snakes tend to be more active during the warm summer months, as they rely on higher temperatures to be able to capture prey, migrate and reproduce. With rattlesnake season in full swing, our venom analysis lab at the University of Northern Colorado is hard at work collecting Prairie rattlesnakes from new locations in Colorado. After we capture snakes, we extract venom, dry it down, and process it to understand its composition and properties. Venoms are complex mixtures containing different toxins that can cause a huge variety of symptoms when a person is bitten. Different species of snakes and even populations of the same species can have different types of toxins because they live in different environments and eat different kinds of prey. Our lab is interested in determining both how and why venom composition varies between species of rattlesnakes found in the western United States. Most people bitten by venomous snakes in the United States survive because of the effectiveness of antivenom and the fact that medical help is usually readily available. However, it’s important to know the composition of venoms from snakes throughout the country because the effects of their toxins can vary widely. For example, knowing which snakes possess potent toxins that affect the nervous system or those that contain tissue digesting enzymes can help inform snake bite treatment as well as make anti-venom production more effective. Understanding venom variation can also tell scientists a lot about the history and ecology of a particular snake species. To answer these kinds of questions we need to have a good understanding of what types of animals are typically prey items for a certain species or population. For example, sea snakes primarily feed on fish which is reflected in the toxins present in their venoms that are very effective at killing fish. Rattlesnakes in general tend to feed on small mammals like mice, but will eat whatever they can get, leading to venoms with many different kinds of toxins that can kill prey in a variety of different ways. The Prairie rattlesnake is not only common in Colorado, it’s range spreads from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Though it has such a large range, we still don’t understand how or why its venom varies. Because of this our lab is interested in studying geographic variation in venom composition since this species lives in many different environments with many different prey items. By separating and purifying the main toxins that make up venoms from snakes in geographically distinct areas, we now know that this species varies in levels of medically significant toxins throughout its range. We see snakes in certain areas with higher amounts of tissue digesting enzymes, while snakes in other areas primarily have potent toxins that affect the nervous system. Knowing these differences can help medical professionals give better medical care to people bitten in different areas. Our study will be ongoing for the next few years, and we hope that our research can answer questions about snake ecology as well as help with snake bite treatment. -Cara Smith
PhD student, Venom Analysis Lab Curator, UNC Museum of Natural History University of Northern Colorado |
Rattler TattlerAuthorsAdaptation Environmental Team: Bryon, Joe, and Kelly Categories
All
Archives
July 2023
|