Herps in the News

 The article “Venomous Snake with ‘Attitude’ named ‘Red Hot Cheeto’ by Rangers at Texas state park” discusses how park rangers at Dinosaur Valley State Park relocated a copperhead snake from a main trail to a more remote location. Because the snake “had an attitude” they decided to name it Red Hot Cheeto. The article then gives the audience advice for what to do if they run across a snake: to stay away from it, call park rangers if necessary, and reminds the reader that the park is the snake's home. The post also highlights how all of the snakes in the park are protected and shouldn’t be disrupted or harmed. The article then says how warm weather are contributing to more active snakes and copperheads are typically found in rocky areas, wooded bottomlands, near weeds, and along streams. This article’s audience was mainly hikers near the Dallas Texas park that could potentially run into snakes and what they should do if they happened to run across more in the upcoming warmer months. This article also followed the same point of view as the rangers and highlighted how the snakes are protected by the park and they should be left alone because the park is ultimately their home. I really enjoyed this article, it originally caught my attention because they named the copperhead “Red Hot Cheeto” which I thought was funny, but I also liked the points they made in the article. I feel like the majority of media we see is negative towards snakes, especially poisonous ones, however, this article still highlights how the park is the snake's home and that you should stay away from it instead of harming it, and that they are protected by the park. It even mentions where copperheads could be found to make sure people are safe and aware of their surroundings in case they are in the environment a copperhead could be in. The article itself was a bit short and I felt spoke on very basic issues, but I do like how it used the interesting name the rangers gave to the snake in order to inform people about the safety of themselves and the snake and warn that snakes will become more active in the summer.

link: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2023/05/02/venomous-snake-with-attitude-named-red-hot-cheeto-by-rangers-at-texas-state-park/