Earlier in the semester our Herpetology lab class had the opportunity to visit the Charleston Aquarium located on the Cooper River overlooking Charleston Harbor. During this field trip we were given a behind the scenes tour of several facilities located throughout the aquarium. One of the most interesting aspects of this tour was the PowerPoint presentation given by a snake specialist, whose name I cannot recall, on venomous snakes endemic to South Carolina as well as parts of Georgia. After the talk we were taken to an area where several snakes were kept including the Pine snake (Pituophis melanoleucus) and the Corn snake (Elaphe guttata). The Pine snake was of particular interest to me because of its docile nature and overall patterning. Covered in splotches of ashy grey with white bellies, these snakes inhabit areas throughout the Southeast in relatively dry habitats and pine covered grounds (www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/pitmel.htm). This particular experience was my first time to ever hold a snake and it was definitely an interesting feeling. I found this individual snake consistently trying to wrap its body around my fingers and arm, a characteristic common to this species considering that they tend to constrict their prey before devouring them. While this fact may seem a little scary to first time snake handlers, I tried my best not to let it get to me especially seeing as how it wasn’t too large in size. Interestingly enough, Pine snakes tend to spend majority of their time underground and are only a handful of snake species who can actually build their own burrow in which their eggs are laid. On another note (besides the Hognose snakes), they are the only South Carolina snake species that can hiss, a noise they tend to make when first approached.
(Samantha Reeves, Charleston SC)
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