It’s #WorldSnakeDay

Here is a thread of some of the beautiful, enigmatic, and largely misunderstood serpents I’ve seen and worked with as a PhD student and scientific researcher.

First up is the mud snake (scientific name: Farancia abacura)

Next up is the eastern hognose snake (scientific name: Heterodon platyrhinos). This genius of snakes is notorious for their death feigning behavior, seen here in this video captured by @BenNicholasfish

Here we have the harmless western ribbon snake (scientific name: Thamnophis proximus).

Usually, small snakes won’t try to bite you because you’re much larger than them & they know you wouldn’t make a good meal.

Sometimes, they don’t give a heck

Milksnakes (Lampropeltis triangulum) get their common name from a folklore; farmers used to find these snakes in their barns and believed the snakes were attaching themselves to cow udders at night & sucking out their milk! (they weren’t, these snakes eat mammals + other snakes)

Fox snakes (Pantherophis vulpinus) “wag” or “rattle” their tails as a defense mechanism. This species is harmless to humans, but wants to appear more threatening to ward of potential predators

Two of my favorite snakes from my time in Trinidad & Tobago: the high woods snake (Erythrolamprus zweifeli, left) and the false coral (Oxyrhopus petolarius, right). Both tropical snake species are harmless to humans and GORGEOUS

**Volume up to hear some sounds of the jungle**

This native Trinidadian species, the rainbow boa, was likely hunting for a meal (scientific name: Epicrates maurus)

#NoFilter

I found this stunning plains garter snake (scientific name: Thamnophis radix) in a sandy field near my undergraduate campus at @Illinois_Alma

Common species are beautiful, too!

Some snakes act excited to see you when we all know they really aren’t.

It’s nice of them to pretend, though

(Both harmless snakes are native Trinidadian species: Leptophis couerleodorsus, left; Oxybelis aeneus, right)

Last summer, I assisted @ReptileRhett with some fieldwork in the southwestern United States. We saw several Arizona mountain kingsnakes on our hikes, including this fiery juvenile

(scientific name: Lampropeltis pyromelana)

Here is an adult Arizona mountain kingsnake (the same species from my previous tweet, just a few years older!)

This harmless-to-humans ringneck snake waves the bright red underside of its tail as a defense against potential predators (scientific name: Diadophis punctatus)

This ONE DAY old red-bellied snake is smaller than a dime when coiled up... What could be more adorable than this baby snake?

(Scientific name: Storeria occipitomaculata)

I wanna wrap this thread up by saying: snakes are rad & they deserve way more respect than they get out there in the world. If you encounter a snake, don’t harm them! I promise they are more terrified of you and want nothing more than to safely escape