Yep! That is what the headline on the www.wildlife.org website reads.
Now, for those of you who know me – you know, snakes totally give me the Heebie-Jeepies! Upon moving to LOW just 3 years ago I killed my garden hose 4 times! (Why did I ever buy a black hose with a gold stripe down the middle anyway!) Over the past couple of years, I have gotten better and even graduated to a “catch and release program” with snakes that I find in my yard. They can’t stay in my yard but I will relocate them now if the snake is harmless. I just can’t deny that the snakes keep the mole and vole population from becoming worse than it already is. So when I heard about the new Snake ID Hotline from my friend Cindy Curtis – I was elated – Ok, not elated but I did think it was pretty cool. . I will enter it into my contacts so it is easily at my fingertips. Now I will know when a snake is a threat or harmless.
According to the www.wildlife.org article who quoted Rich Perry, owner of the company, Virginia Wildlife Management and Control, based in Chesterfield, Va. that developed and manages the hotline- “Only 5 percent of the photographed reptiles he has seen pose a threat. Virginia is home to 30 snake species, of which three are poisonous: the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) and timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). To the untrained eye, he said, these snakes can look like innocuous ones. People often confuse copperheads with black rat snakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) and black racers (Coluber constrictor).”
Perry’s business also runs a Save Our Snakes program, which aims to educate people about differentiating between snakes.
If you need assistance with identifying a snake, send Perry a picture through the Virginia Wildlife Management and Control. Text the picture of the snake to 804-617-7086 and the 24 hr Snake ID Hotline will Identify it for you. Even if you are somewhat sure what the snake may be – better safe than sorry.
Now if they could just do the same for Spiders!!!
