I call them the snake-impaired, those unfortunate people who cannot enjoy a day at the lake or even a walk in the park without constant anxiety over a mostly imagined threat. In their world, a sinister serpentine menace lurks in every shadow. Simple pleasures such as wading in a creek or walking through tall grass are beyond their realm of experience. Just the thought of Mister No-shoulders sends them hurrying toward air conditioning. Too bad they don’t know how it really is out there. As a herpetologist, I spend a good deal of my time actually looking for snakes in the snakiest of places, and more times than not I come up with nothing.

We have a love-hate relationship with snakes. They add an interesting dimension to our lives, and we all enjoy talking about our various experiences with them. A few of us like to have them around or even keep them as pets. But despite their fascinating, graceful, and beautiful qualities, just the sight of a snake can send some people into hysteria. True, a few of our snakes are capable of causing injury and in rare cases even death, but these pose virtually no risk to people who don’t deliberately fool with them. Like fear of heights, fear of snakes may be to some degree instinctive, and you’ll get no argument from me that a healthy mistrust of unfamiliar snakes—and strange dogs and human, for that matter—is a good thing. For the most part, however, our attitude toward snakes is shaped while we are children watching the behavior of adults. Sadly, the irrational hatred that some people have toward all snakes is reinforced by our culture. It’s a shame more people don’t see snakes as a desirable part of our world to be respected, appreciated, and conserved.

Oddly, our cultural bias against snakes is not accompanied by similar prejudices against other reptiles. Lizards, turtles, and even alligators are generally liked or at least tolerated well enough. I once saw a kindly soul pull off the road to help a homely little mud turtle out of harm’s way. I wonder if he would have behaved differently had the animal been a corn snake, one of my favorite animals. Yes, of course I help snakes across roads. Don’t you? There are probably more bizarre myths about snakes than any other group of animals. Stories still circulate about "hoop snakes" that take their tail in their mouth, roll after people, and sting them with a "stinger" on their tail. Some people still believe black racers and/or copperheads are "pilot snakes" that always precede rattlesnakes.

Milk snakes are so named because when a cow went dry, people believed the snakes had sucked the milk. Water skiers hear tales about submerged "nests of cottonmouths" waiting to pull down hapless swimmers. A non-venomous hognose snake (or "spreading adder") will puff and hiss when cornered, but some people believe their breath is poisonous and can kill at a distance. Coachwhip snakes are supposed to wrap around your ankles and flail you senseless with their whip-like tails. I have a copy of a letter a man wrote to Auburn University in which he earnestly describes the dangerous "electro-charming beam" of the rattlesnakes around his home. These stories are fun as folklore, but the truth about snakes is just as interesting.

Alabama is blessed with an astounding diversity of wildlife, and that includes 42 snake species. Our 36 species of the family Colubridae are often called "harmless," meaning they lack venom. I wish we had a better term, because it says nothing about the positive side of these animals. They are ecologically important, beautifully colored and patterned, and interesting to observe. The same is true of our six venomous species, but you want to stay out of their way, or at least not handle or harass them. The ones to avoid include our pit vipers: three rattlesnakes (timber or canebrake, diamondback, and pigmy), the copperhead, and the cottonmouth. The other venomous snake is a cobra relative, the colorful but seldom seen coral snake. Learn to recognize these, and the others will be no cause for alarm.

Most of our snakes are secretive and rarely encountered, but a few are relatively easy to find. When an angry mob of blue jays starts making a noisy fuss, look closely for the object of their attention and you’ll likely see a rat snake. The rat snake, or "chicken snake," is one of our more common snakes and is the most arboreal; meaning it spends most of its time in trees. Investigate a screaming frog at the pond margin and you’ll likely find it in the jaws of a water snake, perhaps a banded or plainbelly, or maybe a garter or ribbon snake. In the spring of the year and again in the fall, you can find king snakes, corn snakes, copperheads, and others by gently lifting flat objects such as boards and old roofing tin. These are good places for small rodents, which is why the snakes are there. Lift a rock or roll a log in the woods, and you’ll find delicate and pretty woodland snakes, including ringneck snakes, scarlet snakes, and worm snakes. If you remove an object to look for snakes, please remember to always replace it as you found it. It takes a long time for a rock or log to weather into place so that it is suitable habitat for small animals.

Ever since the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in the 1960s we have been conscious of declines in birds and other animal groups. For most of the 1990s, dwindling amphibian populations have been a serious concern of scientists around the world. For the most part, the general public has shared these concerns of ornithologists and herpetologists. After all, who doesn’t like wood thrushes and treefrogs? Well, snakes are in trouble, too. Loss of habitat is the biggest problem facing most species. Larger snakes such as coachwhips, corn snakes, and pine snakes have sizeable home ranges, and if that range includes a frequently traveled road, it’s just a matter of time until they are killed. Fire ants are likely taking a terrible toll, especially on the egg-laying species, but no one knows for sure. Talk to older people who have spent a lifetime observing nature and they will tell you snakes are nowhere near as common as they were several decades ago. Some would say that’s a good thing, but attitudes are changing, and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has enacted a regulation making it illegal to harm or kill six rare or declining species. These are the eastern coachwhip, southern hognose (not the commoner eastern hognose), Florida pine snake, black pine snake, and Gulf salt marsh snake.

Snakes will no doubt continue to be disliked by many people, but fear of all snakes is unwarranted. If we can change our attitude toward them from fear to understanding or at least tolerance, we are making progress. Our own prejudices must be overcome if we are to leave our children a legacy of appreciation and proper respect for all creatures.

Alabama's Snakes: