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Top ten educational snakes
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by earthguy on April 26, 2010
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Many of us here end up doing lots of educational talks. But none of us have unlimited money/space. If you could only have 10 snakes for your educational talks (but it could be ANY 10) what would they be and why (I realize some of you will be trimming WAY back to get down to ten)? I'm pretty close to my ten:
A. contortrix
A. piscivorus
C. adamanteus
C. horridus
M. fulvius
S. milarius
(All of the above are native venomous. Very few people have actually seen them and even fewer can actually ID them properly. Plus people get really excited to see them.)
That leaves me four. Since the rest are hot, I think the rest should be handleable:
L. triangulum elapsoides (Batesian mimicry with M. fulvius)
P. regius (Who doesn't love a ball python? Plus you get to talk about native vs. non-native)
P. gutatta (Again, who doesn't love a corn snake? Plus I have a GREAT true story about how a farmer learned the importance of ecology on his farm because of a corn snake)
And my ringer...
D. couperi (big, charismatic, beautiful, and native. Plus a good tie to in situ and ex situ conservation, the evils of roundups, and the importance of reasonable harvesting and establishing breeding populations)
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by Time on April 26, 2010
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If you have Black Rats there, I would consider them since they do the tail vibrating and Water Snakes since the general public does not know the difference between them and a Cottonmouth.
I could not limit myself to 10 snakes!
Especially when teaching id or talking about snakes that make a good pet. I do promote the Corn and Ball for pets.
When I do a snake id class, I take 25 snakes all native to Central Texas.
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by BobH on April 27, 2010
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I think you should have a black/gray ratsnake and maybe even a racer. The last few should be animals that they might actually encounter. I have a feeling ratsnakes will be around long after the other ones have either gone extinct or have become so rare no one worries about them.
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by Crotalusssp on April 27, 2010
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I like the idea of adding a black or gray rat snake. Also I think it would be good idea to have a Nerodia to compare with the piscivoriuos. Great list! My talks have been with younger kids and in schools, so hots were limited to pictures. Corn's are my favorite for these talks. On another note, Josh, send me an email or give me a call about coming out to the school if you have an opportunity. We are in the beginning of your ecology sections and would be great to have you.
Charles
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by Ptk on April 27, 2010
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Unless already mentioned:
I would add eastern kings (very common in southeast).
and you mentioned C. horridus but I would include both the timber and canebrake ssp.(that debate has been around for decades and isnt likely to end anytime soon).
Garter Snakes another common local (many color variations and patterns). People always forget about the little guys.
If you can get a hognose another very interesting snake for education. Threat displays and shape of head always a favorite discussion.
Cheers!!
PTK
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by earthguy on April 27, 2010
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The whole point of this topic was to narrow an impressive field down to a top ten. Obviously with any educational talk you try to target the snakes that you have available (that are healthy enough, didn't eat just yesterday, not gravid, etc) to the target audience (church, school, master gardeners club, ladies afternoon music club, etc). So...all things being equal, what would you take? You don't have to actually have one. It would be awesome, for example, to have a trained king cobra to wear like a shawl (a la Grace Wiley) :)
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by MikeB on April 27, 2010
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A docile little Dekays or ringneck snake so people can be invited to handle it . . . very non-threatening, and also one they are likely to encounter in their gardens.
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by Rob_Carmichael on April 27, 2010
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I do talks to thousands of people each year and each one is slightly different. The theme of the talk will dictate which herps I bring so my list would be impossible to narrow to a top 10. But, whenever possible, I do try to bring the following (you will notice a distinct Illinois theme):
- Eastern Massasauga
- Timber Rattler (plus copperhead and cottonmouth)
- Western Fox
- Mud Snake
- Bullsnake
- Garter....how come no one mentioned the world's most successful snake!!!:-)
- Eastern Hognose
- Black Rat
I usually bring along a couple of exotics such as an Indian Python, Yellow Anaconda, Emerald Tree Boa/Chondor, etc.
When we are allowed to bring educational exhbits with venomous, the list can really get rocking to include various cobras, etc. But, for normal educational talks, the above list serves my needs pretty well.
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by earthguy on April 27, 2010
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Mud snakes are pretty awesome! Do you have problems feeding them? For most of my talks I try to focus on natives (what I think people will see). And somehow when I ask for them to ID the snakes everything is either a cobra or an anaconda. I'd never thought about garters or P. obsoleta being exciting...but I can definitely see the educational value.
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RE: Top ten educational snakes
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by Time on April 27, 2010
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In Central Texas, the majority of my snake calls are Texas Rat Snakes. But I am told that they are pythons, rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and boa constrictors! LOL
And this is the most common snake that people see in our area. Because of this, I set a "Texas Rat Snake Photo Gallery" made of pics sent to me for id or id confirmation.
http://www.austinreptileservice.net/newsite/images/txratgallery/index.html
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