Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Now that spring is here, you know you’ll be spending more time outdoors. And, when you do, my advice: watch your step…literally.

07—Probably most people who spend any amount of time hiking in Texas have been within arm’s reach of a diamondback and never knew it.

Andy Gluesenkamp is a herpetologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. Don’t let what he just said about the big, scary venomous Western Diamondback Rattlesnake — the deadliest snake in North America –keep you locked up indoors.

07—Diamondbacks would by and large much prefer to avoid contact than get in some sort of fisticuffs with a large animal like a human.

These snakes play defense. They usually hang out in the vicinity of fallen logs, brush piles, and rocks. If they think you don’t see them, they’ll lie perfectly still and let you proceed on your merry way. They don’t court trouble. However…

14—If they feel threatened by you, the first thing that they’ll do is buzz that rattle. On rare occasions when somebody reaches their hands into a crevice, or is picking up firewood and grabs a snake or steps on a snake—then they’re going to react violently. And that’s when people tend to get bitten.

You know what you have to do. Find more information about snakes on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series and works to restore native habitat in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2015 at 12:00 am and is filed under Hiking, State Parks, Wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.