Chapter Ten
NEWS ARTICLES
Friday, March 23, 2007
Snake expert: Back off, walk away
CATHERINE MADDEN
The Daytona Beach News-Journal Correspondent
SANFORD — If you can tell the difference between a German shepherd and a St. Bernard, you can tell the difference between a venomous and nonvenomous snake.
That’s the counsel of Nick Clark, senior reptile keeper at the Central Florida Zoological Park. Among other things, he teaches local gardeners and residents how to enjoy the animals in their yards and he recently did just that when 17 people attended his class on how to coexist with Florida’s snakes.
“I have a lot of snakes around my house,” said class member George Vogel of DeBary. “One fell out of the palm tree onto my driveway.”
Most snakes in Central Florida are not harmful, but help control rodent population, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission pamphlet. There are 34 different kinds of snakes in this part of the state, according to the commission’s website, but only four are venomous: coral snake, pygmy rattlesnake, cottonmouth (also called water moccasin) and the diamondback rattlesnake.
“A snake will only strike when it thinks it has no other alternatives.” says Jennifer Stabile of Deltona, the zoo’s reptile keeper. “Keep your distance. If you’re closer than 10 feet, you’re too close.”
Reptiles large and small are cowards and will run from larger animals if they can. When escape is not possible, they will bluff. Inflating their bodies, they appear bigger then they actually are; they may also coil, rattle or hiss to intimidate the other animal. If these tactics fail, the snake will assume a warrior’s stance and it will fight.
All snakes are good swimmers and all drink water. Lakes and marshy areas are preferred locations for snakes but they may find their way into yards no matter where they are.
“There is no need to kill the snakes in your yard,” Stabile said. “They are beautiful, intelligent animals. We can learn to coexist and enjoy them.”
“April through October is when most snake bites occur,” Clark said, and most bites happen in residential yards. Ninety-three percent of the victims, he said, are males between the ages of 18 and 34 and more than half those males have been drinking alcohol.
“Snake bite is easy to avoid — just walk away,” Clark said. “Snakes have poor eyesight. Their range of vision is not more than 30 feet. They respond to movement so move away slowly; fast erratic gestures can frighten the animal into panic.”
The old expression “red on yellow, kill a fellow” refers to the bite of the coral snake. But even this well-known prohibition is something of an overreaction.
Clark said in the United States, there has been only one death reported from coral snake bite in the past 40 years.
Coral snakes like to live under leaves or mulch. While unlikely, if a bite occurs, Clark advises “Keep calm. Symptoms can take from 18 to 24 hours after the bite to appear. You have plenty of time to get to the hospital. But do not delay going for treatment as even a nonvenomous bite can be painful.”
Popular treatments for snake bite, such as using a tourniquet, applying ice or cutting and sucking the wound site, are dangerous and should be avoided, he said.
Local hospitals are equipped to handle venomous bites of all kinds. Lauri Barkley of DeLand, a trainer at Halifax Medical Center, volunteers as a zoo docent. She said the hospital offers physician training for venomous stings and bites regularly.
A zoo class about alligator awareness is being offered from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday. Registration is required. The cost is $10 for zoo members and $15 for nonmembers. For information call (407) 323-4450, ext. 123.