By: Katie Moses
One day this summer, I walked out onto my front porch and spotted a small snake hiding behind my cat’s water dish. My first reaction was excitement that we had a guest. Without being able to see it well, I assumed that it was a worm snake since we find them occasionally in our flowerbeds, and I’m always overjoyed to see wildlife in my yard. Fear kicked in, however, once I saw that it was slightly bigger than I originally thought, and it had a pattern on its skin. Because I’m uneducated on snakes, I assumed the worst and resolved that I had an extremely venomous, juvenile snake on my porch, threatening the lives of my family and pets. I can admit now that my reaction was a bit overdramatic, but in that moment when the fear took over, I believed that I must eliminate the danger by any means possible. I started to retrieve a weapon and then I remembered that I had a much better tool at my disposal. I pulled out my phone, opened iNaturalist, and uploaded my observation. My husband confirmed the app’s answer with a friend who is good at snake identification, and I was delighted to discover that we were being visited by a juvenile coachwhip, which is non-venomous and like all snakes, beneficial. We let it go about its way, and I decided it was time to educate myself on snakes and to have the number of an expert snake relocator on hand in case one of the venomous fellows did show up.
Not only did I learn what a coachwhip looked like that day, I was also reminded that a little bit of knowledge can be a powerful tool to keep fear from leading us to make decisions that are harmful to nature. It is for this reason that education and outreach are pillars of our organization’s mission! As Master Naturalists we must keep learning and sharing our knowledge with others. We don’t need to have all the answers, but we can guide others (and ourselves) to resources and encourage them to seek out information.
Speaking of snakes and outreach, you will be able to experience both on October 7th at Nature Fest! Volunteers are still needed (please email me if you haven’t already signed up), or just stop by for a visit. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about our local state parks and nature centers, interact with live reptiles, take a nature walk through the pollinator garden, touch skins and skulls, look through a microscope, and much more. We hope to see you there!!
Katie Moses
Chapter President
P.S.- If you are looking for a quick resource on snakes, this is one that found: