Official Kids Mag

www.Of f icialKidsMag.com • AUGUST 2023 • 29 HOGNOSE SNAKE What To Do if I Find a Snake Instead of trying to capture a snake, one good way to get a snake to leave a certain area is to gently spray a water hose in its direction. Finding an adult who can do this will scare the snake away from your yard or toys. All snakes are important to the environment, and many even help to keep the rodent and insect populations under control. Admiring these slithery critters from a distance and letting them go on their way is the best way to co-exist with our scaly friends. This species of snake can flatten its body to make it easier to swallow frogs and will play dead to make predators believe it has died and is no longer a threat, when it is actually alive and healthy. Fun Fact: Hognose snakes mostly eat frogs and are actually slightly venomous, but their venom is no worse than a bee sting. A Zombie Snake Sometimes snakes pretend to be dead when they sense danger. One of the snakes that does this is the eastern hognose snake. A venomous water moccasin, also known as the cottonmouth, is easily identified by the "parentheses" pattern on their back, the "mask" on their face, and of course, the bright white, cotton-color inside their mouth. Instead of rattling their tail like a rattlesnake to ward off predators, they often open their mouth as a defense mechanism to display their white mouth. Rattlesnakes come in many shapes and sizes. From the smallest rattlesnake, the pygmy rattlesnake, to the largest, the timber rattlesnake, they each have a rattle on the end of their tail to let you know they are uncomfortable with how close you are to their home. Keep in mind, many pygmy rattlesnakes have such tiny rattles that you can hardly see the rattles on their tail, or even hear them. Each rattlesnake species is distinguished by their patterns. Diamondback rattlesnakes have diamond- shaped patterns along their back, pygmy rattlesnakes have small, dark brown spots, and timber rattlesnakes have horizontal stripes. DIAMOND BACKED RATTLESNAKE PIGMY RATTLESNAKE TIMBER RATTLESNAKE Coral snakes are a small, black, yellow and red snake that is usually only found in the very southern parts of Arkansas. Fear not, even though their venom is dangerous, their mouths are so small that they rarely pose a threat to humans. Common Snakes and Snake Behaviors Many common, non-venomous snakes in Arkansas include the speckled kingsnake, the plain-bellied water snake, and western rat snake. Of the 36 species of snakes found in Arkansas, even non-venomous snakes will sometimes act like they are venomous to scare away predators. For example, while a kingsnake is not venomous, it will sometimes "rattle" its tail to mimic the venomous rattlesnake so that other animals will not harm it. Myth Buster: Baby venomous snakes do not have more venom than adult snakes. CORAL SNAKE WATER MOCCASIN

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