Musings
Goodness snakes
~ by Mark Blackwell
Late spring has come to Brown County. The rain has abated. The weather is noticeably warmer. The leaves are out, and so are the snakes.
According to the people who keep track of these sorts of things, there are eleven types of snakes in Brown County. Twelve if you count the guy who sold me a map to his secret hidden mushroom patch.
The snakes that a person might encounter hereabouts include both the harmless and beneficial variety, and a couple that you might want to shy away from. In that way, snakes are kinda like people, because there are more of the harmless to beneficial types than there are the ones that can cause you some serious discomfort or even have you“ knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’ s door.”
While a lot of folks are pretty phobic about serpents, I, myself, have never cared to know them well enough to hate’ em. So, I have adopted the attitude of“ they were here first.” And, since I am smart enough to acknowledge my ignorance when it comes to the importance of their part in the ecosystem, I just try to enjoy our brief encounters when they occur.
This last part is significant in that most snakes are not aggressive. They prefer to keep to themselves, minding their serpentine business and hoping to avoid human interactions. They like feeding and basking; those are the situations when you’ re most likely to come across one. Also, they are generally crepuscular, which means they are more active in the evening after a luxurious afternoon in the sun.
Most of the snakes are fairly dull, both in color and personality, although they do have a serious genius for camouflage. They tend to disappear into their surroundings. In fact, there’ s a good chance that while you are enjoying your picnic in the park there is an undetected snake within twenty feet or so just biding their time, waiting for you to leave.
34 Our Brown County • May / June 2025