Anita’s Blog — Week of the Reptiles

I don’t mind holding my cats, but anything else in nature just seems icky.

On my way to bed the other night, I noticed a frog gripping the wall at the doorway to the bathroom. That was creepy.

Yes, frogs and toads are amphibians, not reptiles, but that would have made a longer blog title.

Back to the amphibian on the wall: I lugged the kitchen stool up to the doorway, put my hand in a plastic carry bag and grabbed the anemic-looking critter.

Wow, can those things jump! It catapulted one way and I leapt off the stool in the other direction.

I applaud frogs and toads when they jump out of the way of the riding mower, but chasing one hopping around the bathroom before the cats discovered it was annoying.

I finally managed to capture it in the bag and free it out in the courtyard hoping it wasn’t akin to the one last year that sang a shrill scream all night long for weeks.

I do not have an amphibian guide so if anyone can ID it from this small photo, thank you.

The next night, just as it was time to head to bed, one of my cats alerted me to an 8-inch snake travelling along the kitchen floor in front of the cat’s nose.

I recommend keeping a dustpan-on-a-pole and broom just outside the back door for easy access in times of critical happenings.

I grabbed the two items and swept the snake into the dust pan. The wily little critter slithered over the side of the dustpan and dropped onto the garage floor. And then it lunged at me! Fortunately the dustpan was between us and the stalemate allowed me to quickly snap a shot with my phone camera.

I then scooped it back into the dustpan and quickly deposited it outside in the grass.

Checking my “Snakes of Southeast Texas” waterproof accordion guide, it appeared to be a Texas Brown Snake. The guide mentioned that they can be aggressive when startled. Coiled up and hissing made it look like it was all mouth and although it was a tiny little thing, I nearly felt intimidated. The snake is better served outdoors eating slugs, earthworms and termite larvae.

Earlier in the day, I was headed out with wire fencing and iron rods to put protection around a small lemon tree. Before I could re-direct my forward movement, I tossed the items from my hands as my right foot landed in the middle of an 18-inch snake.

I thought I’d maimed the poor fellow. It was absolutely motionless, except for lifting its head and staring at me. I texted my husband, who is fortunately just about to finish up a six-month deployment, to see if I should put the poor thing out of its misery.

He immediately texted back and said it was playing possum and I should go about my business and check on it in a bit. He was right. After I tended to the lemon tree, there was no trace of the deceptive snake.

Later, checking the photo against my trusty snake guide I’m tempted to think it was a Western Ribbon snake which eats frogs/toads, salamanders and small fish. It may be the Gulf Coast Ribbon snake which eats amphibians and fish. Both snakes enjoy being near water, but since this one was in the grass, I’m tempted to call it a Western Ribbon snake.

The Western Ribbon snake has a bluish chin and three light colored stripes on dark brown to black. It’s a bit difficult to distinguish in the phone camera photo — expert advice gratefully accepted.

Earlier in the week was the great Coral snake find at Hugh Ramsey Nature Park when fellow TMN and Ramsey Park volunteer Greg Storms spotted one crossing Ebony Loop. If you aren’t aware, there’s a nice FaceBook page about the park, “Friends of Hugh Ramsey Nature Park,” that gives an account of that and some facts on Coral snakes.

Briefly, Coral snakes are nocturnal and spend most of their time burrowed underground or under rocks or rotting leaf piles and mulch.

They are shy and reclusive and will often flee from predators. They eat lizards and other small, smooth-scaled snakes and frogs. Most Coral snakes are around 18 inches long but certainly can get larger.

Coral snakes are second on the list of most poisonous snakes. They also only account for one percent of reported snake bites. Because of that low figure, it is not economically profitable for pharmaceutical companies to produce anti-venom serum, according to one Website.

I’m sure many of you have funny and interesting reptile stories. Share them with us.