What good are snakes?

By Kaleb Hill

Photo by Kaleb Hill

            Slithery, slimy, and scary…. Most people who hear these words would think “SNAKE”! For whatever reason these amazing creatures have been misunderstood and demonized by humans throughout all of history. All my life I have been fascinated by wildlife, but snakes in particular have stuck out to me, before I even understood how great they are, and someday I hope others can understand this. First off you will need to forget all of the information you think you know about these creatures, for one they are not slimy, you don’t have to touch one to realize this, simply think about a snake you have seen, did you notice any leaves, dirt, or debris sticking to it? I am certain there more than likely was not. Snakes do not chase you, startled animals don’t always make the best choices on where to run. Snakes are not mean, I would argue that they are quite cuddly, people often time misinterpret this, but snakes do not constrict people for fun, it is incredibly rare for this to happen. Along with not actively trying to hurt people, even venomous snakes are not out to get the world, as most snake bites that occur are referred to as dry bites, which means no venom was injected. Now if you can move forward and see these animals are not out to get you, maybe I can show you the beauty of these creatures and why they are important.

            Besides no legs, snakes also lack ears and eyelids, but yet they are found almost everywhere. From the grasses to below the ground, underwater and even oceans, up to the tree tops and in some cases through the air, snakes have made homes everywhere while lacking a lot of the anatomy to do so. Maybe you can’t see this evolutionary beauty the same way I do, and you might be asking “why do I care?” Just like any other creature, snakes play an important role in the ecosystem, a role that many do not realize is very important to humans. Where there are snakes there are often times rodents, another misunderstood group of animals that cause much more destruction than snakes. Electrical fires, infrastructure damage, food loss, and disease spread, it is estimated that rats alone cost the United States up to 67 billion dollars a year. (Fall. 2011) Snakes play a key role in controlling this pest population for next to no cost of damage. Pest control isn’t the only important role played through this predator-prey relationship, but snakes also protect us from many tick carrying diseases such as Lyme’s disease. Not every tick carries Lyme’s disease so it is difficult to say how many people snakes may have saved from contract the disease, but in many studies it has shown that annually one snake can remove up to 4,500 ticks due to the rodents they eat (Kaby. 2013).

Well if you didn’t fall in love with these animals I hope you have learned something about these creatures that have been a big part of my life. So I urge you to think, next time you or a family member kills one of these beautiful, well adapted, and often times harmless creature, what is it costing?

Kaby E. “Timber Rattlesnakes may reduce incidence of Lyme disease in the Northeastern United States”. Department of biological sciences, University of Alabama. 2013

Fall, M. “Commensal Rodent Pests.” National Wildlife Research Center, Encyclopedia of Pest Management. 2011