Beautiful day and a snake!

It was a gorgeous day to be outside…and find snakes!

I am not a big fan of reptiles but I am fascinated by them (Although, lizards creep me out to a level that I think I have herpetophobia skewed towards lizards). Dragons and snakes are my favorites. I am lukewarm about alligators and crocs and highly fear lizards and all forms of salamanders.

But, I digress.

So, it was a beautiful day to get out and stay out. A bit on the windy side and started a bit on the chilly side but overall, a beautiful day. I was out biking and running - part of my on-going and self-inflicted pain aka training for second triathlon. I was biking around Canada and Edgewater – the water in crystal springs was blue and calm, wind was strong but soothing and the 25 miles weren’t too bad. The goal was to transition into running and run 3 miles on a trail.

0.5 miles into my run a fellow runner warned me that they have spotted a rattle snake on the trail. So, I switched to the road. Edgewater park has lots of snakes, mostly non venomous but there are rattle snakes. On the way back I saw two snakes! One poor baby snake was dead, probably knocked out by traffic and it seemed like a rattle snake. A few yards ahead I saw another one, right beside the road basking in the sun.

It was a beautiful snake. It was lethargic and was most likely drawn so near to the road in search of sun. The clouds and wind was making the sun disappear quite often and snakes were probably getting further out to get sun. Being cold blooded they need to warm themselves up. This one had a beautiful camouflage and was quite dormant. I took a quick shot and left it alone.

I was happy to be out. But, I was really happy to find some snakes. I just find them very fascinating. A creature with no limbs and nearly no sight, it is one of the most feared and resilient species on this planet. Their colors, adaptation, magnificent weapon (fangs and venom and camouflage) that helps them defend – they are phenomenal species.

Look at this thriving, exciting species...
Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Subphylum: Vertebrata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes

Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica and on most islands. Fifteen families are currently recognized comprising 456 genera and over 2,900 species. They range in size from the tiny, 10 cm long thread snake to pythons and anacondas of up to 7.6 metres (25 ft) in length. The recently discovered fossil Titanoboa was 15 metres (49 ft) long. Most species are non venomous, only ~400 have any kind of venom. However, there are snakes whose venom is potent to kill human adults within minutes. Venom is actually a complex protein.

All this is fascinating but, I often wonder what they talk about, if they talk at all. Do their voices (if they have voices) squeak when they are cold and lethargic? Do they show off their skin the night/day after they slough?
I wonder…