August 10, 2000 - Give a snake a breakAugust 10, 2000 • The Suffolk Times • SA
Give a snake a break
Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
This brown water snake was picked up by a few boys in a rubber raft in the Peconic River In
Riverhead. Here one of the boys shows us the underside with its unusual markings.
A call came the other night trom an
old friend but I wasn't at home to take
it. (I'm away getting my other knee
replaced so I will have two good legs
to walk on and be better able to
"focus on nature "!) My concerned
and anxious caller
told of a snake he FOCUS
found that
evening in his sis- ON
ter's back yard, NATURE
one he had never b Paul
seen before. Stoutenbu h
Could it be poiso- �
nous, he wanted
to know, because it acted so vicious.
He was trying to contact the Bronx
Zoo and other places in hopes they
might be able to help him identify it _
Long Island, as we all know, even
though many years ago there were
rattlesnakes reported along the rocky
highlands of the Sound. Today we
have a number of snakes we see fairly
often: the common garter, black
snake, hog- nosed, milk snake, and
some less often seen like the king,
ring- necked, green and DeKay's
snakes. You, too, might one day be
surprised as Bill was when he turned
over a plank and saw a four - foot -long,
rusty- brown - colored snake all coiled
up seeming ready to strike. With the
help of Ditmar's reference book we
found it was most likely a brown
water snake.
1t 1b Lne largest of the North
American water snakes, attaining a
length in excess of five feet. It has a
very stout body, a long tapering tail
and produces a large number of
Young. Some snakes bear live oun
while others lay eggs.
Their eggs are not hard
like a chicken egg but
more or less pliable.
This elasticity lets the
egg actually expand as
the young inside devel-
op.
This brown water
snake is not a wanderer, as most to i-
viduals remain for years in one small
area. This one was found by a man-
made pond that backs up to the pine
barrens. Bill's family had been looking
for worms to feed the frogs along the
shore. There are also baby goldfish in
the pond and perhaps the snake was
after them. Since they usually don't
move too far, Bill feels he might be
seein the snake again.
Having lived on Long Island all his
life and familiar with our more com-
mon snakes, Bill was surprised when
this unfamiliar snake became vicious,
darting at him much like a venomous
snake would do. When he put it in. a
bucket to keep it until he could identi-
fy it, it quickly slithered out and got
away.
Bill thought I might want to photo-
graph it if he found it again. However,
in looking through my collection of
slides, I found a photo I had taken in
1990 of some kids we
met in a rubber raft
while we were canoe-
ing on the Peconic
River. I asked them
what they had caught
and one of the boys
pulled a brown water
snake out of a pail
and then turned it
over to show me the
colorful underside,
which I pho-
tographed. I also
remember Bill
Christopher, a biolo-
gy teacher at -
Southold High
School at one time,
finding a brown
water snake swim-
ming in the
Cranberry Bog in
Riverhead when on a
field trip with his stu-
dents.
"Both in appear-
ance and disposition,
this is one of the
most ugly of American snakes, says.
Ditmar in his "The Reptiles
of North America." He goes
on to say that "Most water
snakes become tame in cap-
tivity but when cornered
this snake will lie partially
coiled making such rapid
darts at moving objects that
its actions resemble those of
a venomous snake." Bill saw this kind
of behavior, making him want to be
sure of its identity because of the chil-
dren living in the area.
My black- and -white negative file has
a few shots of a brown water snake
taken at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge
in 1978, so you see, while we are famil-
iar with some snakes here on the East
End, there is always that chance you
might come across a surprise such as
Bill did when he turned over that
plank and there was the "coiled up"
brown water snake. On further
researching this unusual snake, we
found that they have the habit of coil-
ing in nearly circular fashion, and
when in this position assume a striking
similarity to small examples of the
banded rattlesnake, hence another
name given them of "water rattle."
How seldom we see a snake today.
We used to see garter snakes in our
garden or along the driveway sunning
tnemselves but that is an unIthey. igh
today. You may remember g
about a lady who called me he
had a "ball" of garter snake
bush, and sure enough, Bar I
drove to her house and therwere all wrapped up in a big her bush, probably in a mati
My son recently spotted the dry,
crumpled -up skin of a large snake. All
snakes shed their skin as they grow
larger. They usually do this by rubbing
against a stone or log or bush that
holds the skin as they squirm out of it.
After walking a short distance he spot=
ted a four -foot -long black snake all -
fresh and shiny after having removed
its old skin. You can tell when a snake
is just about to shed its skin as there is
a milky covering over their eyes, a
sure sign of a shedding snake. Actually
the snake that my caller found was in
this state of shedding as its eye had the
milky covering over it.
My first experience with a black
snake was when I was a kid collecting
wild asparagus along the edge of
Wickham's Creek in Cutchogue. My
ears were much better in those days
and I heard a "rattle" in the bushes
and looked down to see a huge snake.
Of course, I thought it was a rat-
tlesnake and took off as fast as I could.
Later I would learn that snakes
vibrate their tail that often moves a
stick or bush to make a rattling sound
and so my "rattler" turned out to be a
good old black snake which, by the
way, I have not seen in the area since
that time. However, in areas where
progress hasn't taken its toll, the black
snake is doing well. Out on Gardiners
Island I have actually photographed
two 41/2- foot -long black snakes mat-
ing.
One particular time that stands out
in my mind regarding snakes and our
family was years ago when we took a
camping trip down to the Blue Ridge
Mountains. We had taken a long walk
Easter Sunday morning and along the
way we came ,upon garter snakes com-
ing out of their winter hibernation.
One after another they kept coming
aut of the hole in the ground as we all
>tood and watched in amazement.
Snakes are part of the natural
vorld, so keep your eyes open and
lon't be afraid of a snake if you
houdd come across one. Better yet,
ry to remember what it looked like
nd see if you can later identify it. It
ion't hurt you and will probably just
Y to go the other way if you give it a
Nance. Snakes have rights, too.
August 10, 2000 • The Suffolk Times • SA
Give a snake a break
Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
This brown water snake was picked up by a few boys in a rubber raft in the Peconic River In
Riverhead. Here one of the boys shows us the underside with its unusual markings.
A call came the other night trom an
old friend but I wasn't at home to take
it. (I'm away getting my other knee
replaced so I will have two good legs
to walk on and be better able to
"focus on nature "!) My concerned
and anxious caller
told of a snake he FOCUS
found that
evening in his sis- ON
ter's back yard, NATURE
one he had never b Paul
seen before. Stoutenbu h
Could it be poiso- �
nous, he wanted
to know, because it acted so vicious.
He was trying to contact the Bronx
Zoo and other places in hopes they
might be able to help him identify it _
Long Island, as we all know, even
though many years ago there were
rattlesnakes reported along the rocky
highlands of the Sound. Today we
have a number of snakes we see fairly
often: the common garter, black
snake, hog- nosed, milk snake, and
some less often seen like the king,
ring- necked, green and DeKay's
snakes. You, too, might one day be
surprised as Bill was when he turned
over a plank and saw a four - foot -long,
rusty- brown - colored snake all coiled
up seeming ready to strike. With the
help of Ditmar's reference book we
found it was most likely a brown
water snake.
1t 1b Lne largest of the North
American water snakes, attaining a
length in excess of five feet. It has a
very stout body, a long tapering tail
and produces a large number of
Young. Some snakes bear live oun
while others lay eggs.
Their eggs are not hard
like a chicken egg but
more or less pliable.
This elasticity lets the
egg actually expand as
the young inside devel-
op.
This brown water
snake is not a wanderer, as most to i-
viduals remain for years in one small
area. This one was found by a man-
made pond that backs up to the pine
barrens. Bill's family had been looking
for worms to feed the frogs along the
shore. There are also baby goldfish in
the pond and perhaps the snake was
after them. Since they usually don't
move too far, Bill feels he might be
seein the snake again.
Having lived on Long Island all his
life and familiar with our more com-
mon snakes, Bill was surprised when
this unfamiliar snake became vicious,
darting at him much like a venomous
snake would do. When he put it in. a
bucket to keep it until he could identi-
fy it, it quickly slithered out and got
away.
Bill thought I might want to photo-
graph it if he found it again. However,
in looking through my collection of
slides, I found a photo I had taken in
1990 of some kids we
met in a rubber raft
while we were canoe-
ing on the Peconic
River. I asked them
what they had caught
and one of the boys
pulled a brown water
snake out of a pail
and then turned it
over to show me the
colorful underside,
which I pho-
tographed. I also
remember Bill
Christopher, a biolo-
gy teacher at -
Southold High
School at one time,
finding a brown
water snake swim-
ming in the
Cranberry Bog in
Riverhead when on a
field trip with his stu-
dents.
"Both in appear-
ance and disposition,
this is one of the
most ugly of American snakes, says.
Ditmar in his "The Reptiles
of North America." He goes
on to say that "Most water
snakes become tame in cap-
tivity but when cornered
this snake will lie partially
coiled making such rapid
darts at moving objects that
its actions resemble those of
a venomous snake." Bill saw this kind
of behavior, making him want to be
sure of its identity because of the chil-
dren living in the area.
My black- and -white negative file has
a few shots of a brown water snake
taken at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge
in 1978, so you see, while we are famil-
iar with some snakes here on the East
End, there is always that chance you
might come across a surprise such as
Bill did when he turned over that
plank and there was the "coiled up"
brown water snake. On further
researching this unusual snake, we
found that they have the habit of coil-
ing in nearly circular fashion, and
when in this position assume a striking
similarity to small examples of the
banded rattlesnake, hence another
name given them of "water rattle."
How seldom we see a snake today.
We used to see garter snakes in our
garden or along the driveway sunning
tnemselves but that is an unIthey. igh
today. You may remember g
about a lady who called me he
had a "ball" of garter snake
bush, and sure enough, Bar I
drove to her house and therwere all wrapped up in a big her bush, probably in a mati
My son recently spotted the dry,
crumpled -up skin of a large snake. All
snakes shed their skin as they grow
larger. They usually do this by rubbing
against a stone or log or bush that
holds the skin as they squirm out of it.
After walking a short distance he spot=
ted a four -foot -long black snake all -
fresh and shiny after having removed
its old skin. You can tell when a snake
is just about to shed its skin as there is
a milky covering over their eyes, a
sure sign of a shedding snake. Actually
the snake that my caller found was in
this state of shedding as its eye had the
milky covering over it.
My first experience with a black
snake was when I was a kid collecting
wild asparagus along the edge of
Wickham's Creek in Cutchogue. My
ears were much better in those days
and I heard a "rattle" in the bushes
and looked down to see a huge snake.
Of course, I thought it was a rat-
tlesnake and took off as fast as I could.
Later I would learn that snakes
vibrate their tail that often moves a
stick or bush to make a rattling sound
and so my "rattler" turned out to be a
good old black snake which, by the
way, I have not seen in the area since
that time. However, in areas where
progress hasn't taken its toll, the black
snake is doing well. Out on Gardiners
Island I have actually photographed
two 41/2- foot -long black snakes mat-
ing.
One particular time that stands out
in my mind regarding snakes and our
family was years ago when we took a
camping trip down to the Blue Ridge
Mountains. We had taken a long walk
Easter Sunday morning and along the
way we came ,upon garter snakes com-
ing out of their winter hibernation.
One after another they kept coming
aut of the hole in the ground as we all
>tood and watched in amazement.
Snakes are part of the natural
vorld, so keep your eyes open and
lon't be afraid of a snake if you
houdd come across one. Better yet,
ry to remember what it looked like
nd see if you can later identify it. It
ion't hurt you and will probably just
Y to go the other way if you give it a
Nance. Snakes have rights, too.
August 10, 2000 • The Suffolk Times • SA
Give a snake a break
Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
This brown water snake was picked up by a few boys in a rubber raft in the Peconic River In
Riverhead. Here one of the boys shows us the underside with its unusual markings.
A call came the other night trom an
old friend but I wasn't at home to take
it. (I'm away getting my other knee
replaced so I will have two good legs
to walk on and be better able to
"focus on nature "!) My concerned
and anxious caller
told of a snake he FOCUS
found that
evening in his sis- ON
ter's back yard, NATURE
one he had never b Paul
seen before. Stoutenbu h
Could it be poiso- �
nous, he wanted
to know, because it acted so vicious.
He was trying to contact the Bronx
Zoo and other places in hopes they
might be able to help him identify it _
Long Island, as we all know, even
though many years ago there were
rattlesnakes reported along the rocky
highlands of the Sound. Today we
have a number of snakes we see fairly
often: the common garter, black
snake, hog- nosed, milk snake, and
some less often seen like the king,
ring- necked, green and DeKay's
snakes. You, too, might one day be
surprised as Bill was when he turned
over a plank and saw a four - foot -long,
rusty- brown - colored snake all coiled
up seeming ready to strike. With the
help of Ditmar's reference book we
found it was most likely a brown
water snake.
1t 1b Lne largest of the North
American water snakes, attaining a
length in excess of five feet. It has a
very stout body, a long tapering tail
and produces a large number of
Young. Some snakes bear live oun
while others lay eggs.
Their eggs are not hard
like a chicken egg but
more or less pliable.
This elasticity lets the
egg actually expand as
the young inside devel-
op.
This brown water
snake is not a wanderer, as most to i-
viduals remain for years in one small
area. This one was found by a man-
made pond that backs up to the pine
barrens. Bill's family had been looking
for worms to feed the frogs along the
shore. There are also baby goldfish in
the pond and perhaps the snake was
after them. Since they usually don't
move too far, Bill feels he might be
seein the snake again.
Having lived on Long Island all his
life and familiar with our more com-
mon snakes, Bill was surprised when
this unfamiliar snake became vicious,
darting at him much like a venomous
snake would do. When he put it in. a
bucket to keep it until he could identi-
fy it, it quickly slithered out and got
away.
Bill thought I might want to photo-
graph it if he found it again. However,
in looking through my collection of
slides, I found a photo I had taken in
1990 of some kids we
met in a rubber raft
while we were canoe-
ing on the Peconic
River. I asked them
what they had caught
and one of the boys
pulled a brown water
snake out of a pail
and then turned it
over to show me the
colorful underside,
which I pho-
tographed. I also
remember Bill
Christopher, a biolo-
gy teacher at -
Southold High
School at one time,
finding a brown
water snake swim-
ming in the
Cranberry Bog in
Riverhead when on a
field trip with his stu-
dents.
"Both in appear-
ance and disposition,
this is one of the
most ugly of American snakes, says.
Ditmar in his "The Reptiles
of North America." He goes
on to say that "Most water
snakes become tame in cap-
tivity but when cornered
this snake will lie partially
coiled making such rapid
darts at moving objects that
its actions resemble those of
a venomous snake." Bill saw this kind
of behavior, making him want to be
sure of its identity because of the chil-
dren living in the area.
My black- and -white negative file has
a few shots of a brown water snake
taken at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge
in 1978, so you see, while we are famil-
iar with some snakes here on the East
End, there is always that chance you
might come across a surprise such as
Bill did when he turned over that
plank and there was the "coiled up"
brown water snake. On further
researching this unusual snake, we
found that they have the habit of coil-
ing in nearly circular fashion, and
when in this position assume a striking
similarity to small examples of the
banded rattlesnake, hence another
name given them of "water rattle."
How seldom we see a snake today.
We used to see garter snakes in our
garden or along the driveway sunning
tnemselves but that is an unIthey. igh
today. You may remember g
about a lady who called me he
had a "ball" of garter snake
bush, and sure enough, Bar I
drove to her house and therwere all wrapped up in a big her bush, probably in a mati
My son recently spotted the dry,
crumpled -up skin of a large snake. All
snakes shed their skin as they grow
larger. They usually do this by rubbing
against a stone or log or bush that
holds the skin as they squirm out of it.
After walking a short distance he spot=
ted a four -foot -long black snake all -
fresh and shiny after having removed
its old skin. You can tell when a snake
is just about to shed its skin as there is
a milky covering over their eyes, a
sure sign of a shedding snake. Actually
the snake that my caller found was in
this state of shedding as its eye had the
milky covering over it.
My first experience with a black
snake was when I was a kid collecting
wild asparagus along the edge of
Wickham's Creek in Cutchogue. My
ears were much better in those days
and I heard a "rattle" in the bushes
and looked down to see a huge snake.
Of course, I thought it was a rat-
tlesnake and took off as fast as I could.
Later I would learn that snakes
vibrate their tail that often moves a
stick or bush to make a rattling sound
and so my "rattler" turned out to be a
good old black snake which, by the
way, I have not seen in the area since
that time. However, in areas where
progress hasn't taken its toll, the black
snake is doing well. Out on Gardiners
Island I have actually photographed
two 41/2- foot -long black snakes mat-
ing.
One particular time that stands out
in my mind regarding snakes and our
family was years ago when we took a
camping trip down to the Blue Ridge
Mountains. We had taken a long walk
Easter Sunday morning and along the
way we came ,upon garter snakes com-
ing out of their winter hibernation.
One after another they kept coming
aut of the hole in the ground as we all
>tood and watched in amazement.
Snakes are part of the natural
vorld, so keep your eyes open and
lon't be afraid of a snake if you
houdd come across one. Better yet,
ry to remember what it looked like
nd see if you can later identify it. It
ion't hurt you and will probably just
Y to go the other way if you give it a
Nance. Snakes have rights, too.