A campus police officer wrangled a rattlesnake Monday evening at Texas A&M University-San Antonio between the Science and Technology Building and Auditorium.
Officer Daniel Stoddard with the University Police Department responded to a 7:18 p.m. name a few snake sighting on a most important walkway. He used a pole to maneuver the snake to some bushes subsequent to the Auditorium.
A campus knowledgeable, who recognized the snake as a Western diamondback rattlesnake, mentioned college students, workers and college will see extra snakes as temperatures rise and development continues to displace wildlife.
“We have things for them to eat here, but chances are — because we have all the construction — all those animals that used to live there have to go somewhere,” mentioned Dr. Charles Watson, affiliate professor of biology. “And we’ll probably see a number of animals passing through as they flee the construction.”
Watson, a herpetologist, who grew up within the forests of East Texas has all the time been eager about something organic.
“The reason I work with reptiles and amphibians is because the kind of questions that my lab likes to ask and the kind of things we investigate in most cases are reptiles, especially lizards are the best group of organisms to use in pursuing those questions,” Watson mentioned.
Western diamondback rattlesnakes primarily eat rodents, pack a venomous chew and have a rattle on the finish of their tail to warn others that they’re current.
Watson mentioned that is in all probability one of many extra harmful snakes within the space, but when individuals simply depart them alone, there’s zero probability they may get bitten.
“They usually account for a few bites in Texas every year,” Watson mentioned. “Deaths by snake bite is crazy uncommon… and that’s in the U.S.”
Teresa Talerico, medical assistant professor of communication, noticed the snake on campus as she was walking to Lot 2. She mentioned the reptile was on the primary walkway — not shifting — adjoining to the Science and Technology Building.
Talerico described a small crowd that gathered at a protected distance: college students warned passers-by to keep away from getting near the snake, and some individuals, together with schooling junior Audrey Olson, took photographs and movies. One man questioned if it was a garter snake.
Meanwhile, the snake coiled itself after which started shifting throughout the pavement.
Video courtesy of Teresa Talerico.
When a scholar appeared satisfied it was a rattler, Talerico known as UPD’s nonemergency quantity at 7:18 p.m.
Stoddard responded in roughly 5 minutes, Talerico mentioned. By then, the snake had slithered beneath some bushes between the Science and Technology Building and the Auditorium. Stoddard coaxed it out with a pole and moved it to bushes alongside the Auditorium’s exterior wall.
Watson, who examined photographs of the snake, estimated that it was a yearling, which implies it’s one-year-old.
He mentioned it’s extremely probably there are different venomous snakes within the campus space, though he has not seen any.
“Avoid them by staying on well lighted paths and just keep an eye out where you’re walking,” mentioned Watson. “But if you see a snake on campus … contact one of the police officers.”
Those with further wildlife issues can attain out to UPD at 210-784-1900.
