WASHINGTON – If this weather is giving you ideas about communing with nature, don’t be alarmed if you encounter a snake.
“They’ve just come out of the dens. You’re going to see a lot more snakes this time of the year than probably any other time,” says Bob Beyer, associate director of the Wildlife and Heritage Service at Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources.
But you have little to fear.
The very common black rat snake is not poisonous. It would rather slither away than bother you.
Beyer says snakes “do not want confrontation.” Poisonous varieties in the region tend to stay well hidden.
Copperheads and rattlesnakes look menacing, but Beyer says he’s stepped on three rattlesnakes in his lifetime and sat on a copperhead. He’s never been bitten.
Being scared, however, is a natural reaction.
“If you’re not sure what it is – back off. Just leave it alone.”
Referring to all types of snakes, Beyer says, “they’re a good thing to have around.”
They tend to eat things you don’t want to have around.
“If there’re small snakes, they’ll eat the bugs — the creepy crawlies around your house. If they’re bigger critters, like the black snake, they’re going to take care of the mice.”
Black snakes in the region can grow up to 8 feet long. And they’re fat. Beyer says more typically they grow to between 4 feet and 7 feet long.