It’s that time of the year.
I love spring. It’s beautiful outside, warmer, and birds are chirping again. But the biggest downside is that the bugs and creepy crawlies start coming out of hibernation and we now have to be on the watch for these things.
I can deal with a lot of them but one that I simply cannot stand are snakes. I don’t care if they’re venomous or not, I don’t want to be close enough to the thing to tell.
Snakes Are Back Out Now
That would be a Copperhead. Ick.
According to the Illinois DNR, spring is when snakes start to move most and leave brumation (which is basically their hibernation state). Snakes are cold-blooded (like my ex) so they rely on that sunshine and warm temperatures.
That’s why you’ll often see them basking in the sun. Snakes are coming out all around us but there’s one place that’s really well known for it.
Illinois’ Snake Road
One Midwestern stretch is renowned for snake migration. National Geographic says that Shawnee National Forest has the infamous Snake Road, which has a bunch of snakes migrating on it mostly from March 15th-May 15th.
The actual road is called LaRue Road but it’s known as Snake Road since many types of snakes (including the venomous and awful Cottonmouth, Copperhead, and Timber Rattler) migrate across it this time of the year.
You can’t drive on Snake Road but you can walk it, which has been compared to entering Indiana Jones’ Well of Souls, though herpetologists disagree.
I love to hike but y’all think I’m going around anything remotely close to that? Lol no. A herpetologist with Illinois DNR said that you’re doing good to see twenty snakes on the road in one day. That’s still a lot of slimy slithery creatures.
Obviously, if you see a venomous snake (or any snake really), avoid it, don’t poke at it, and if you do get bit, get your tail to a hospital ASAP.
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