Snakes
(This 806th Buffalo
Sunday News column was first published on
September 10, 2006.)
Last
week I received a call from Frank Hugar of East Aurora. We had an interesting
conversation about our experiences with snakes. I found his comments so
interesting that I asked Frank if he would write about them. A few days later I
received a delightful message that I share with you here.
"Back
in the early forties, after I caught my first small, brown snake on Grand
Island, while hiking there with my brother and two friends, I became fascinated
with the little critters, so all my life I've been catching and studying local
snakes.
"We
used to hike to a beautiful, pristine swamp between River Road and the Niagara
River near the Grand Island Bridge. The swamp was fed by a sunny brook and
opened up to the river's edge. In and around this area we observed and
identified eight local species of Western New York snakes. This was before the
area became more industrialized with toxic landfills on both sides of River
Road.
Brown Snake
"We
found there Northern water snake, common garter snake, gray ringneck or Dekay's
snake, red racer--grey on top with a bright orange belly--milk snake, brown
snake, ribbon snake and an unidentified five to six footer that could have been
a rat snake or a black racer. I only observed a green snake in the Southern
Tier.
"When
I was in the eighth grade going to Amherst No. 8 school on Main Street near
Youngs Road, I discovered a snake den barely 25 feet from the highway. It was a
warm early spring day, but the snakes all scurried down the many holes in the
rocks as I approached. I sat down cross-legged and within 15 minutes most had
climbed out and were sitting in my lap, on my arms and a few on my shoulders.
They must have loved my body heat.
"Many
years later, when I lived in the Town of Wheatfield, my eight year old son
informed me that he caught about 50 snakes in the basement at a friend's house
up the street. It was a very old house with three foot wide stone blocks for
its foundation. Apparently, every spring, many of the hibernating snakes would
end up in their basement. After viewing my 50 plus house guests in the bottom
of our garbage can in our basement, I informed my disappointed son, that in the
morning they would have to go. Early the next morning I went down in the
basement to let the snakes go and discovered only two left in the bottom of the
garbage can. The rest were hiding in all the nooks and crannies of the
basement. I thought to myself, "Now I'm the one with the cellar full of snakes."
For the next two or three weeks, before going to work, I would go downstairs,
pick up four or five snakes from the cellar floor, toss them out the back door
and go on to work.
"I
have always been particularly interested in Northern water snakes. They can
grow up to five feet long and can be 'meaner than a junkyard dog.' However,
like all the snakes I've mentioned, they are non‑poisonous.
"Two
local areas where they have been very numerous are the Williamsville Glen and
18 Mile Creek in the Derby area. The place that had the densest population of
water snakes, in my estimation was the boggy, swampy area of the Beaver Lake
Nature Preserve near Baldwinsville, just northwest of Syracuse N.Y."
I
share Frank Hugar's interest in snakes but I am not at all sure I would have
been able to sit still while they crawled all over me.
His
message comes at the right time as it gives me an opportunity to call attention
to the upcoming Western New York Herpetological Society's Reptile and Amphibian
Show and Sale at the Hearthstone Manor on Dick Road in Depew next Sunday,
September 17, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission will be $5.00 for adults,
$3.00 for children 12 and under, no charge for children under 3.
The
featured speakers this year will be John and Laura Paner, formerly from
Buffalo, who now operate Croc Encounters Reptile Park and Wildlife Center in
Tampa, Florida.-- Gerry Rising