While snakes are sometimes solid as companions to villains in cult traditional horror films, specialists say their advantages to the ecosystem far outweigh their unhealthy reputations.
“Snakes are kind of scapegoats. They get the same treatment as bats,” mentioned Daniel Sollenberger, senior wildlife biologist within the Wildlife Resources Division on the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. “They’re neither good nor unhealthy. They’re simply one other type of wildlife that we’ve got to stay round.”
Snakes are economically helpful as a result of they eat rats, mice, and different animals deemed to be pests, specialists say. Some snakes have been used as bioindicators to evaluate pollution in terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems.
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Georgia is home to about 47 species of snakes, in accordance with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Snakes will be discovered from the mountains of northern Georgia to the barrier islands alongside the Atlantic coast.
“The most common snake that I get calls about is the eastern rat snake,” mentioned Sollenberger. “The color of the snake will depend on where you’re located. In the northern half of the state they’re mostly black. If you go to south Georgia, particularly southwest Georgia, they’re gray colored. As you move closer to the coast, they can become yellow with stripes, but they’re all basically the same kind of snake.
“They’re really common around wooded areas, typically behind your house and shrubs.They can also climb really well.”
Sollenberger mentioned in the event you discover a snake in your home, 95% of the time it is going to be a rat snake.
“They’re really good at finding little gaps to squeeze through,” he mentioned. “ If you have a chicken coop, that’s the most common one to find in and around your chicken coop looking for eggs.”
Rat Snake
Adult rat snakes are sometimes 3 to five ft, however can rise up to 6 ft lengthy, in accordance with specialists with the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.
Adult rat snakes primarily eat mice, rats, squirrels, and birds, in addition to chicken eggs. They are a standard predator on wooden duck eggs. Juveniles eat small frogs, lizards, and small rodents. Rat snakes are constrictors, and adept climbers that may scale brick partitions in addition to tree trunks.
Brown Snake
“Another really common snake that people tend to see in their yards is the brown snake,” mentioned Sollenberger. “They didn’t get actual inventive naming it. They solely get to be 10 inches in size. If you’ve got a slug or snail downside in your backyard, they’re good to have round.”
Red-bellied Snake
An grownup red-bellied snake can attain 8 to 16 inches.
“A close relative of the brown snake is the red bellied snake,” mentioned Sollenberger. “It’s another small, dark-colored snake, but it has a bright red belly. You can’t see it unless you pick it up.”
Copperhead
“There’s only one venomous snake that’s really common in suburban areas,” mentioned Sollenberger. And that is the copperhead. They can develop as much as 4 ft lengthy. The common copperhead is round 2.5 ft. They have a coppery coloured head.
“The best distinguishing feature for them are the hourglass shaped markings going down their backs. And if you look at them from the side, they look kind of like Hershey’s Kisses. If you see hourglasses or Hershey’s Kisses, it’s probably best not to get near it.”
Sollenberger mentioned the copperhead is the one venomous snake in Georgia that appears to be actually tolerant of city and suburban growth.
“They only need a handful of acres of habitat,” he said. “They can live in yards and abandoned lots.”
Black Racer
“Another snake people see a lot is the racer,” mentioned Sollenberger. “It’s a really fast moving snake you see out in the middle of the day. They’re usually black with no markings and shiny, smooth scales. They like open sunny areas. They eat lizards, mice, frogs and other snakes.”
Has local weather change had any impression on snakes?
“Ten years is a very short period of time to really see any changes,” he mentioned. “If we look at the next 100 years, maybe some things might start changing. There might be some species that are able to live in new places that they couldn’t before.
“For the most part, other than maybe our snakes that live right on the coast, they’re probably going to be pretty secure regarding the type of climate change that we’re experiencing. Snakes in some form or another have been around since before the dinosaurs went extinct. They’ve made it through some pretty rough times.”
This reporting content material is supported by a partnership with a number of funders and Journalism Funding Funding Partners.
Erica Van Buren is the local weather change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, a part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect together with her at [email protected] or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.
