Slinky. Scaly. Scary. Snakes are subjects of colorful descriptions and phobias. With lots of ponds, greenbelts and still some open land, Southlake has a healthy snake population and this leads to regular encounters between humans and snakes.
Officer Ronnie White, field services officer for the Southlake DPS, said that the department averages one snake call per day in summer and fall. Most of the snakes are not venomous and are, he says, beneficial.
The most commonly encountered snake is the rat snake.
Why should we try to live as neighbors with snakes? Why not just kill every snake you see? Snakes really are helpful to us. Their No. 1 job is to control rodents. Cities and towns where few snakes survive experience high rodent populations.
Recently, DPS held a reptile-training seminar to help equip its community volunteers for encounters with snakes. The seminar featured the DFW Wildlife Coalition.
Speaker Lucy Hale set about to dispel common snake myths and encourage better understanding of these small reptiles.
One of the most common myths about snakes, Hale said, is that venomous snakes have triangular heads. Case in point, coral snakes, which are found in the area have round heads that appear as an extension of their body. The three other native venomous snakes are water moccasins, copperheads and diamond-back rattlesnakes.
Another common belief is that water snakes are more aggressive than land snakes. This is not a myth. A fairly common water snake encountered by White is the nonvenomous blotched water snake. White said it is not a snake that will give up its ground easily. And although it is not venomous, it will strike if it feels threatened.
The best advice if you encounter a snake is to use common sense, Hale said. Move a safe distance from the snake and let it have room to escape. If you have piles of wood or debris where snakes can easily hide, use heavy gloves and boots when working in the area. If a snake gets in your swimming pool, use a net to get it out.
If you are bitten by a snake, try not to panic. Seek immediate medical treatment. Remember the markings of the snake. There are different treatments based on the venom-type. Many venomous snakebites happen to people who are handling their "pet snakes" poorly.
There are several helpful Web sites that can help you identify a snake you encounter:
The University of Texas at Arlington has a snake identification site at biology.uta.edu/herpetology. Enature.com also has an online field guide for snake identification.
Additionally, the DFW Wildlife Coalition is a nonprofit agency that will help answer questions about all kinds of wildlife encounters, including snakes. Their hotline is answered from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. year-round. The phone number is 972-234-WILD (9453).