Snakes of the Dismal Swamp Region
With a brown water snake.
Herpetology is the study of amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, etc.) and reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, etc.). Collectively, these animals are often called "herps" by people interested in them. I became interested in herps in my youth and still have a casual interest in them today. During my active investigations, I observed, collected, studied and kept records of them -- especially snakes. One of my favorite haunts for snakes was the Great Dismal Swamp which straddles the common boundary line of eastern North Carolina and Virginia. In the 1950s, a ten-minute bicycle ride from our home would put me at the southernmost edge of the swamp -- a fine place to study snakes. In addition, I paddled the creeks and rivers, walked many miles of logging roads and visited farms of the region. An unlikely good area for studying snakes was the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with its woods, ponds and sand dunes.
Other than the technical work on herps, I saw the need for a general interest publication about snakes of the area. Thus, An Introduction to Snakes of the Dismal Swamp Region was published in 1992.
Other than the technical work on herps, I saw the need for a general interest publication about snakes of the area. Thus, An Introduction to Snakes of the Dismal Swamp Region was published in 1992.
Dispelling false popular beliefs about snakes was one of the primary objectives of the book. This was important because such beliefs contribute greatly to anxiety and fear. During normal conversations with people about snakes, from comments about snakes during lectures, and from interviewing residents, I became acutely aware why most people of the region believe "the only good snake is a dead snake." The following is a sampling of beliefs about snakes that are simply not true: snakes are slimy, snakes can jump, snakes swallow their young, snake's tongue can sting, snakes can hypnotize their prey, the number of rings on a rattle of a rattlesnake determines its age, some snakes can crawl as fast as a horse can run, some snakes seek milk to drink, the breath (hiss) of a snake is poisonous, some snakes have the capacity to whip a person, snakes lick their prey before swallowing it, "killed" snakes do not die until sunset, dismembered joint snakes can rejoin themselves and some snakes have a stinger on the end of their tails. The knowledge of some of these false popular beliefs and others is the reason many people react negatively when they see a snake in the wild, zoo or on television. Of the 27 species of snakes found in the Dismal Swamp Region of North Carolina and Virginia, only the copperhead, cottonmouth and timber rattlesnake are poisonous. In saying that all the others are as harmless as a kitten, it should be realized that a startled kitten may bite. More education is needed to dispel false popular beliefs and appreciate these interesting and important creatures of the animal kingdom.
The following colored pencil drawings are of the 27 species known to occur from Norfolk, Virginia, to the upper Outer Banks of North Carolina:
The following colored pencil drawings are of the 27 species known to occur from Norfolk, Virginia, to the upper Outer Banks of North Carolina:
- Brasswell, AL. 1988. A survey of the amphibians and reptiles of Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve. ABS Bulletin 35(4):199-217.
- Brothers, DR. 1965. An annotated list of the amphibians and reptiles of northeastern North Carolina. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 81(2):119-124.
- Brothers, DR. 1992. An Introduction to snakes of the Dismal Swamp region of North Carolina and Virginia. PROBES,Inc., Boise ID. 139 pp.(out of print, but available in most libraries of the region).
- Brothers, DR.1994. Elaphe obsoleta (Rat Snake) Reproduction. Herpetological Review. 25(3):124.
- Palmer, WM, Brasswell, AL. 1995. Reptiles of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 412 pp.