The plants are taking ”slow-living” seriously while the weather warms up out here at The Arb, but that doesn’t stop other critters from coming out to enjoy the spring sunshine.
Our birds have been busy finding mates, building nests, and flitting through the trees looking for snacks. Cottontail rabbits and their babies have been spotted skirting through the shrubbery on the way to their burrows. And along with the cute and cuddlies, we’ve had a few other little critters slithering along our grounds and sunbathing – garter snakes!
While snakes are often not a “fan favorite”, they play an important role in our ecosystem by maintaining biodiversity, especially where rodents are concerned. Rodents can carry many harmful diseases such as hantavirus and, in tick-infested environments, tick-borne illnesses like Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
In reducing those rodent population numbers, snakes are providing us a great service. And if you’re a gardener, you might be pleased to know that garter snakes in particular are great pest control in the garden – their primary food source being large bugs and the occasional mouse.
And if you’re concerned about those fangs, there’s no need to worry about our garter snakes. They are known for their docile behavior and will not usually bite humans unless provoked. They do produce a very weak venom that would take down a rodent, but has a mild effect on humans – similar to an allergic reaction.
A great trick to tell whether a snake is “friend or foe” is by looking at their eyes and the shape of their head. Non-venomous snakes will usually have a rounded head with rounded pupils. However, if the head is more triangle-shaped (think vipers and rattlesnakes) with slitted pupils, then you may want to keep your distance because these guys are venomous!
Though we don’t see many venomous snakes here at The Arb, it is still encouraged to keep a respectful distance from ALL of our wildlife so we can continue to harbor this peaceful coexistence. A good thing to remember is that even if an animal isn’t venomous or poisonous, it doesn’t mean they can’t bite!
Feel free to join us out here at The Arb with your binoculars and ID guides. And if you don’t have one or the other, no worries! We’ve got binoculars you can borrow from our gift shop, as well as ID guides for sale.
Sylvia Coppers is The Arboretum’s Naturalist & Visitor Services Manager.
