Warm Weather Coaxes Snakes Out of Their Dens in Texas, Officials Warn

Texas wildlife officials claim that the recent warm weather is luring snakes out of their dens.

Snakes have a relatively long lifespan. Small snakes can live up to 12 years, while large species can live up to 40 years.

Average life expectancy in cities can range from five to seven years. Additionally, snake mortality is much higher in urban areas due to human killing, domestic animal predation, and being run over.

Sleeping Snakes in Warm Weather

Snakes enter brumation rather than the traditional deep sleep of hibernation. Brumation is a low-energy or semi-dormant state. To save energy for breeding as well as other activities during the warmer months, they undergo this process, NBC 5 DFW reports.

Looking Out for Snakes in Texas

More than 105 different snake species and subspecies can be found in Texas. Only 15 of them, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, could be harmful to people.

Pit Vipers: Copperheads, Cottonmouths, Rattlesnakes

Pit vipers are poisonous snakes with an opening between their eye and nostril on each side of the head. Texas pit vipers include copperheads, cottonmouths, and rattlesnakes.

Copperheads have lighter-colored bodies with chestnut or reddish-brown crossbands. These snakes are uncommon in dry areas and more common in rocky terrain and forested bottomlands. They can be observed in weed-covered empty lots as well as along rivers and streams in the spring. The Southern Copperhead, Broadbanded Copperhead, and Trans-Pecos Copperhead are the three subspecies of Copperheads found in Texas.

The Western cottonmouth, also known as "water moccasins," is the only recognized subspecies that can be found in Texas. Cottonmouths come in a variety of colors, including olive green, dark brown, and nearly all black. They are identified by broad, dark bands that vary in clarity depending on the individual. Snake juveniles have more vivid markings. The white tissue inside the cottonmouth's mouth, which it exhibits when threatened, gives the species its name. The eastern half of the state's swamps, slow-moving waterways, rivers, coastal marshes, ponds, and streams are home to this snake with a large body.

There are nine rattlesnake species in Texas. Pit vipers include Western Massasauga, Desert Massasauga, and Western Diamondback. The list also includes rattlesnakes Timber, Mottled Rock, Banded Rock, Blacktail, Mojave, and Prairie. Texas also has one cobra, the coral snake.

According to AZ Animals, the western diamondback rattlesnake, one of the biggest in the world, is easily identified by its loud rattles as well as the brown and tan diamond markings that run along its back.

Before giving birth to 10-20 live snakelets, Western diamondbacks regularly carry their young for about six months. Within hours of birth, young western diamondbacks start to hunt and use their venom.

Also Read: Deadly Eastern Brown Snake Found in Horrified Woman's Bed in Australia 

North American Cobra: Coral Snakes

The only cobra found in the state is the vividly colored Texas coral snake. The coral snake is thin, and has a small, unremarkable head, and pupils that are rounded. A wide black ring, adjacent to a narrow yellow ring, and a wide red ring make up its distinctive pattern, with the yellow rings always encircling the red rings. Similar markings can be found on several non-venomous snakes, but they never touch. Coral snakes can be found in coastal plains, canyons, and woodlands in the southeast of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife reports.

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