The official website for wild snake education.
There are six venomous snakes native to the state of Florida. Four of these range practically the entirety of the state: the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, the Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake, the Florida Cottonmouth, and the Eastern (“Harlequin”) coralsnake. Two species can only be found in Northern counties: the Eastern Copperhead, and the Canebrake (“Timber”) Rattlesnake.Read More
It seems there are members who are unsure what a species is, why we use this term, and why scientific nomenclature is preferred to common names. The use of scientific nomenclature dates to the 1700’s with Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy. Linnaeus was the first to organize and assign names to specific organismsRead More
There has been some misinformation being spread around Facebook lately concerning Copperheads (see above). The original post was been shared thousands of times before the original poster finally deleted it. Unfortunately it continues to spread. Hopefully this post will work to counteract that misinformation and I encourage everyone who reads this to share it.Read More
Snakes are some of the most misunderstood creatures around; whose instinctually driven brains, reactions, and energy can be hard to comprehend and so it can be hard for the mainly logic-driven human to relate.
What do snakes do when it gets cold? In locations with temperate and subtropical climates, snakes take various cues both from their environment and internally as winter approaches. There is no exact timeframe or duration, rather a group of exogenous and endogenous changes that tell snakes it is time to reduce activity and overwinter. ChangeRead More
Dear readers, it is time for the return of the debunker, here to dispel the common myths and misconceptions surrounding snakebite medicine and educate the masses. The topic of our discussion today is antivenom and the goal is to correct many of the rumors that impact patient care. Feel free to ask questions and IRead More
Contrary to popular belief, the bite of a baby rattlesnake is almost always far less serious than the bite of a larger adult rattlesnake. The notion that baby rattlesnakes cannot control the quantity of venom injected (referred to in the field of Herpetology as “venom metering”) is a myth that has been disproven multiple timesRead More
Perhaps the most common questions about snakes revolve around snakes in and around the home. Many people are frightened by the sudden appearance of a snake on their property. Others are not frightened but are curious about the reasons snakes may cross a yard or even enter a home. This article will shed some lightRead More
Rattlesnakes in Wisconsin: A Historical and Conservation Perspective By Eric Roscoe, Education and Events Coordinator for the Madison Area Herpetological Society The sound of a rattlesnake sounding off its rattle is perhaps one of the most unmistakable sounds in nature, and very often is also one which elicits an especially strong fear response from manyRead More
Our society has an unfortunate propensity to demonize snakes. Humans tend to fear what they don’t truly understand and snakes are no exception. It is a shame considering how beneficial they are to keeping our ecosystem healthy and thriving. From a young age, it is ingrained in many a mind that any snake you seeRead More