When intrepid animal lover Cindy Wolff saw a snake in her backyard, the panic attack was unexpected. Not in 23 years had she seen one there. And after posting its photo on Facebook, friends responded with their own tales of terror. Are there more snake sightings this year than normal? Wolff had to know more and maybe even conquer a fear.
So What's Up with the Snakes?
Most people go through the grass-cutting and cookout season without ever spotting a snake. But this year, Facebook abounds with posts of snakes in all sorts of sizes, colors and locations. Some wonder if the rainy spring might have created an environment where more snakes might breed.
The National Weather Service reported that 27.24 inches of rain fell in Memphis from March 1 through May 31. It’s the fourth wettest spring on record, said meteorologist Andy Chiuppi. The record is 31.57 inches of rain set in 1927.
Could more rain, which means lots of tall grass and weeds around lakes and in backyards, create a snaky climate ideal for more of the reptiles to hatch eggs?
Rain itself isn't a factor, according to herpetologist Chris Baker at the Memphis Zoo.
“Snakes prefer temperatures in the upper to mid-70s,” he said. “That’s when their activity patterns will be the most common. It just happens to be the time when people like to be outdoors, as well.”
That means man and snake will see each other on trails, in flower beds and on warm paving stones. People see them hanging out on limbs over lakes.
Snakes emerge in the spring, when asphalt or blacktop begin to retain heat in the cool evenings, Baker said. “So snakes will gravitate to pavement or concrete to absorb that last bit of heat.”
The good news, for those who suffer from ophidiophobia -- or fear of snakes -- is that the animals will start to avoid hot pavements when the weather stays in the 80s and above, as it has started doing now.
Unless you’re camping, the average person probably won’t see snakes anymore. It doesn’t mean they aren’t there; they’ve just switched to the nightshift to find prey.
“There still active at that kind of temperature range, it’s just the temperature ranges don’t happen at the same time of day that people are out in the woods,” Baker said.
Sherry Rogers bikes and runs on trails and paved paths such as the Greenline. She recently saw a speckled king snake.
The Greenline, she says, has been the site of several unwanted encounters.
“The funny thing is that the copperheads that I’ve come across, they’re just laying there," Rogers says. "They’re not striking a pose. They’re not doing anything. They’re just there, which is great for me because I can get away from them."