Afraid of snakes and you live near The Woodlands?

Even if you do not live near The Woodlands, this is probably for you. The East Texas piney woods is not a dangerous place for snakes. Here in The Woodlands, we cautiously look for only three venomous snakes and only one is really of much concern. Not bad considering there are some seventeen snake varieties expected to be seen in this area! Learn these three and you have it made. There is possibly a fourth venomous snake that might be seen, that is on the endangered list, but I really doubt any of us will ever see it. I will also describe it here nevertheless.

First be safe outdoors. When gardening, wear gloves when working in in and among vegetation. For clothing, wear long pants and shoes. Don't allow children to play outside barefooted. These are practical safety tips for everyone irregardless of what we do outside. Stepping on a rusty nail is probably more apt to occur than running across a snake. Snakes do bite and they can hurt but most of the time, that is all there is to it. Still, be safe and if you or your child is bitten, go to the clinic. Don't panic, just casually go there to have it looked at. The staff will want to know what the snake looked like. If you know your venomous snakes, you already know whether the snake is venomous or not. Chances are even if it is venomous, there is no venom in your wound.

Speaking of risk, do you know how many fatalities we have each year in Texas as a result of a snake bite? We average less than one per year for the entire state. Those usually occur in the hill country or in West Texas or on the coast. (Be careful in the dune grasses of Galveston or Padre Island - rattle snakes there are very dangerous). I don't believe we have had any deaths in east Texas. But people do get bitten. Many times when people are bitten by a venomous snake, the snake releases zero or only a small amount of venom. They are known to conserve their venom for catching prey. They know you are not food and they need to eat! A baby snake may be more apt to hurt you, because he probably has not learned yet to conserve his venom.
Courtesy of Troy ¹. Click on photo for detailed view. Copperhead.

Let's take a look at the venomous species. It behooves us to learn to identify these three common snakes. The most likely one you are to encounter is the Southern Copperhead. This one is the most populous of the venomous snakes in this area. The key identifying marks are the clear dark patterns that look like Hershey Kisses on the side of the snake, with the tip of the kiss on the top of the back, often touching the kiss on the other side. Another way to look at the markings is to envision an hour glass with the center of the hour glass on the top of the back. Hershey kisses are easy to remember. Characteristically, the snake will be light colored underneath, a light brown base on its sides and top, with fairly sizable kisses on the sides. Our first lesson - Don't kiss a Hershey Kiss snake! In fact, stay clear of it. They will not harm you unless you corner it or otherwise threaten it in some way. Let it be - all snakes have value in the forest. This snake might climb up into a bush looking for food.
Courtesy of Troy ¹. Click on photo for detailed view. Adult Cottonmouth.

The next likely problem snake would be the Western Cottonmouth. This one is less populous but very wide-spread and likely to be found on or near the water. This one is a little more difficult to identify. The head is the key to this snake. At some distance, you might see a fully black snake, or a very dark snake with barely visible brown rings or if a young lad, it might have irregular dark rings around a brown body. The rings fade as the snake ages. To confirm your sighting, you would examine the head.
Courtesy of Troy ¹. Click on photo for detailed view. Juvenile Cottonmouth.

It will have a dark stripe on the sides of its head, resembling the face of a raccoon. So remember, raccoons don't eat cotton; they just have in their mouth! It is dangerous. Inside the mouth of these slippery creatures are little pieces of tissue that look like cotton. This is not the only snake that has this in its mouth, so use the external head criteria to identify the snake. This snake likes to eat food near the water, such as frogs.

Courtesy of Troy ¹. Click on photo for detailed view. Coral Snake.

The less likely snake to run encounter is the most dangerous but not seen very often. Its venom is the strongest. The Coral Snake has a small mouth and has more difficulty than other snakes breaking the skin and even more of a problem trying to get through your clothing. However, its teeth are sharp and given sufficient time, can and will envenom a person. Consider this snake very dangerous and do not touch it or threaten it! This one is colorful, but there are several species that can appear to be a coral snake and are not. Every other ring is yellow. There is no other snake with that attribute, but there are others with yellow rings. The rings are red, yellow, black, yellow then the ring color pattern is repeated. If you see yellow bands in the day, this is it. If you see yellow bands at night, it is another species, such as the King Snake. So remember, yellow bands in the day are dangerous. Stay clear. Just let him be. There is no need ever to harm a snake. He wants to be left alone just as you do.

The only other possible dangerous snake is the Timber Rattlesnake. If you see rattles on the end of the tail, it is dangerous. Always! And the rattlers do make noise.

Other non-dangerous snakes you may see here include: nocturnal Milk Snake (every other band is black), Buttermilk Racer (also known as the Blue Racer), Rubber Snake, Eastern Hognose, Texas Rat Snake, Rough Green Snake, Texas Brown Snake, Rough Earth Snake, Yellow Belly Water Snake (raccoon mask on head 4-4.5 ft), Blotched Water Snake (black with some white), Diamondback Water Snake (5 ft checkered pattern), very common Broad Banded Water Snake (Black and white bands), Western Mud Snake (reds on it with rectangles underneath), Speckled King Snake (looks like small white dots all over it).

Other trivia to know: all snakes can and will swim in water. They know how to survive in bogs and swamps. Mothballs are good to repel snakes from an area.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mike Howlett of Houston Herpetology Supply for presenting this material to us. He sells snakes and snake supplies at www.houstonherp.com in Spring, Texas.

¹Thanks to Troy Hobbitts for providing his 2006 copyrighted photos of the venomous species to help you visually identify snakes here in The Woodlands.

And thanks to several others who also shared their knowledge of snakes in this part of Texas.

This is an interesting video of a "land snake" swimming in water. A Rattle Snake!

"Just passing through The Woodlands, do you have to be so rude?" says the Robin

I laughed really hard at this scene. You know how obnoxious and aggressive a Mockingbird can be, especially during nesting time! How about pre-nesting time? Over the past two days, hoards of Robins have been migrating through this area. It appears they spent the night, ate breakfast and soared off further north. Perhaps, the reason was this nasty little non neighborly resident.

He tried to chase all of them off, attacking every time he could. I wanted to have a talk with this guy on how to treat beautiful guests. Anyway, he would attack one and forty would fly into the bush full of berries to replace the one chased away. Finally, I saw no Mockingbird. I think he had to go take a nap. So rude!

Anyway, I hope you heard the many Robins talking and calling outside as I did. There is nothing like seeing the yard full of migratory birds, starving hungry, going after all the Yaupon berries, worms and seeds that they can gobble up. Last year I caught a glimpse of hundreds of Waxwings passing through. After they cleaned up the worms out of the yard and the Yaupon around the house, they started into this berry-filled bush.

It was a very quiet afternoon as things returned to normal on their departure. We still have some berries though. Hope to have another wave of these birds come and stay a while. Usually we have many around here for a few weeks bop bop bopping along in the grass and trees.

Great News for Eagle Fans - Woodlands Texas

Bald Eagle fans that is. This year, we are proud to have a second nesting Eagle couple. The returning couple has nested in or near their traditional location on East Shore, and now a new couple has moved into Carlton Woods! I suspect at least one is an offshoot of The Woodlands couple. Fifteen eaglets have been born and raised here over the past few years. They mature into breeding adults at about five years of age and live to be about thirty. It is believed that we have chicks in both nests this year. They usually raise one or two chicks each year. We are now awaiting sightings of the newborns above the nests to see how many we have this year. The new couple have decided that they did not need to be very near water, as did our resident pair. We have watched the Eagles teach their offspring to fly, to fish and even to hunt. They of course soar high and distant in search of food. Each year someone gets the privilege of seeing one or more in a local park or near their home. Each December-January, they return to nest. Let's hope the newcomers return each year also. So watch and listen to the skies and see if you can spot one this Spring.

I recall one year watching the Eagles teach their two fledglings to fish. They had a nest near Woodlands Parkway and people would stop at the bridge over Lake Woodlands to watch. I saw one parent swoop out of the sky and grabbed a fish on the surface of the water. One of the babies swooped right behind following the parent. As the parent came off of the water, he dropped the fish. The youngster dived and plucked the fish out of the water, right behind the parent. Lunch was served and lesson taught.

Those days are gone. These days, the birds nest in more remote locations. It is better that way. They need their privacy and will stop nesting here if they are disturbed.


Additional reading: American Bald Eagle - nesting and young

Coyote - friend or foe? threat or help? Southeast Texas

Do you like to befriend animals? I know I do. My impression of the Coyote has been an elusive, wily and timid wild animal that helps control our local varmints. I see it as beneficial to the ecology about us. But is that an impression only from perception and not from fact? I decided to seek a better understanding of this animal and share it with my readers. Unfortunately, all my encounters have been without a camera, so I have no photos to show. However, there is a reference below with a photo of both a Coyote and a Red Wolf. ⁶

Human behavior should be different when it comes to a dog or to a Coyote. This is especially important in teaching our children how to behave in their presence. Humans should not be aggressive with dogs. A dog will be threatened and will protect itself or its human master if attacked. A Coyote will be intimidated and run. Therefore, it is recommended in various literature that a human not move in the presence of a growling dog, but let the animal calm down and slowly remove yourself from its presence to avoid being bitten. That behavior may entices the Coyote to approach the human.

As I write this article, the Coyote is at the beginning of its breeding season. This is the time one can hear the famous Coyote howl on very dark nights. We will see more of them during the day as well. This will continue through February into March.

Please allow me the opportunity to first tell you why I looked into this and why I want to share what I discovered. One day, a friend and I were on Spring Creek, on a Kayak fishing expedition. We came upon some children playing in the creek with adult supervision, so we said "hello" and after a few introductions, proceeded to hear a story they all wanted to tell. It was about this young Coyote they would see every morning when they came to the creek. That group traveled in a little two-wheel trailer pulled by a four-wheeler. We were interested and listened intently, asking questions. The adult instantly could tell that we had an interest in wildlife. The adult asked, "do you want to see this?" Our immediate response was "sure". We got in the back with the kids and rode up the trail with them. At some point, we turned around in the vicinity where they had last seen the Coyote. As we proceeded back, sure enough, the youngster suddenly appeared bouncing along beside us, some 100 feet away. This sure was a novel situation. I could see the fascination of viewing a wild animal of the forest as I looked into the eyes of the children. I was seeing the Coyote in a similar light as the children. I got this strange sense of a wild camaraderie between young humans and a young animal. There was no fear evidenced by either.

In retrospect, I understand now how I had felt that age-long connection between man's best friend (dog) and man. Perhaps that was in error. The children really do not have a grip on the difference between a dog and a Coyote, except the Coyote is found in the wild, and the dog is typically found in the home. We live in a society that wishes to retain all the wildness of nature that it can. That desire is currently packaged in a neat little box of "Green" and "Animal Conservation". The adult supervising the children was also in touch with the outdoors and felt a natural connection to nature by this close proximity to such a wild creature. This harmless dog-like animal maintained a distance of about 30 yards, running parallel with our 4-wheeler and did not threaten us, or so it seemed.

I have since had one other encounter. That was with a family of Coyotes about 5AM, just before daybreak. Standing only 40 feet from me next to the tree line, they were curious about me and appeared to be calmly studying me. They were not at all spooked. This was in The Woodlands proper, near a golf course. I froze and studied them also. They finally got bored and disappeared into the forest. They never made one move towards me nor did I take one step towards them.

Then one day I heard that our community was relocating our wild Coyotes before they could "turn urban", like those in California. Although that did not set well with me, I acquiesced and just let it all pass by without challenging the strategy. Recently, a new wave of concern surfaced with new but daylight sightings. So I researched the issue and asked an expert. This is what I found:

The number of threatening incidents in Texas is almost non-existent. Although we live amidst a forest where the Coyote thrives, we see little of them, and no one gets attacked. He eats small animals such as rabbits or rats. Tree rats are common here and provide a staple diet. Any small animal would be considered food by the Coyote. He will eat feral cats (domesticated also) and small dogs. He often hunts alone but may take his prey with the help of several members of his family. They also eat fruit, berries and insects. ⁵

He can be lured to a hunter with a caller that sounds like a squealing rabbit. I have witnessed the success of this tool in bringing a Coyote right into the back of a pickup truck! The only time this happened to me was with a friend of mine one time when he dared me to go. In west Texas, we waited for an animal to appear as we called. Nothing happened for a couple of hours. When we got tired, we waited a few minutes and a Coyote then jumped suddenly into back of the pickup. My friend and I were so startled that we jumped over the side to the ground, but we also saw the Coyote leave the bed of the truck on the other side. Neither he nor us wanted to have anything to do with each other. A close encounter, yet it proved nothing about the behavior of the animal. He did enter a human scent area, but he was only chasing what he thought was a normal meal.

Recently one local resident told me that the remains of her lost cat had been found nearby. Apparently a Coyote killed and ate it. This was disturbing, but we all know that our cats are at risk when outside during the night here. The cats are not supposed to be outside without a leash. Personally, I would never want to leash a cat. I have been through a thrashing machine before and don't want to experience that again.

We do have the coyote in our midst right here in The Woodlands. Do you respect his potential aggressiveness for the sake of your child's safety? Do your children know about this animal? If the statistics show a very low threat, why would I even ask? Urbanization of the Coyote habitat took place in the western area of our country long before it occurred here. We are in the early stages of habitat change. There are lessons to be learned from urban Californians and other western residents.

From studies there, over time, some of these creatures have learned not to fear man. There have been a number of threatening encounters out west and even small children dragged as apparent prey. "In some cases, our provision of ample resources to these urban coyotes (particularly in the form of intentional feeding) has resulted in their losing almost all fear of humans, and in some cases a few coyotes will become aggressive enough to attack pets and people." ¹

New York state recommends: "People should never try to get close to a coyote. Any coyote that shows unusual boldness or acts tame should be avoided. Coyote attacks directed towards people have occurred in the western United States, and aggressive coyote behavior has also been reported in the eastern United States and in New York State."²

In Texas, we need to understand the North American trend towards increased Coyote aggressiveness. While studies in other areas continue to to be conducted, we must not lay back and be complacent. We must take precautionary measures to keep our children safe, yet not be overly aggressive ourselves toward removing one of the inhabitants of our forest. Here are some practical measures that we as residents can take:

• Do not feed or befriend the Coyote. He should fear man. We can even appear aggressive and to him by using sudden moves and intimidating gestures such as throwing an object in his direction.
  
• We should not encourage his presence in any way, giving him opportunity for malicious behavior.
  
• We must not corner the animal, forcing self defense.
  
• We should not allow very small children to play unattended in our green areas. Assume there are Coyotes nearby and one of them is aggressive.
  
• We should keep our small pets indoors at night. Don't let cats pets roam loose outdoors, especially outside of fences. The small ones become potential food for the Coyote. A dog the size of a Coyote or larger is considered a trespasser in his territory. A Coyote group will gang up on him.
  
• We should keep our fences maintained, what I call "pet tight", where no Coyote can enter and your pet cannot escape. If you have problems with this, use chicken wire at the base of the fence to prevent digging and passing under base boards.
  
• We should report sightings to the community association.
  

There are a few practices that our community can take or has already taken:

• Receive and track reported sightings through an organized process. (taken)
  
• Remove animals to another location if they are sighted during daylight.
  
• Respond quickly to sightings near children. Treat the sighting as an emergency.
  
• Deploy portable remote animal photography units in selected green areas to monitor activity and population.
  

Additional facts

The Coyote is considered a varmint, along with Bobcats and other animals. Coyote and other varmints may be taken in any number, by any method, 365 days a year in Texas! It's pelt can even usually fetch a couple of bucks or a little more. It's lifespan is only about 7 or 8 years. They will mate for life and have frequent encounters with their mate throughout the year. The Coyote is not a native resident of our forest. We had its larger but look-a-like cousin, the Red Wolf before 1900. Gradually, the Coyote displaced the Red Wolf because man drove the Red Wolf to extinction in East Texas.⁶ Dogs are by far more dangerous to children and adults than the Coyote. It is important that we understand this. If we see a dog without a leash on the streets, I would be much more apt to report it than a Coyote. Many dogs are much larger and more dangerous than the Coyote.

So you can see that I do respect the Coyote. He is not my enemy. If he can stay on his diet of rodents and leave human flesh alone, he is welcome at my home, outside my fence. I regard him as a very minor threat to both my pets and my family. There have been no deaths in Texas or the southern part of the United States as a result of a Coyote attack and very few human incidents. Texas had two deaths in 2008 from dog attacks. There has already been a dog-related death for 2009 in Houston. This comparison is similar for every state of the nation. Let's cohabit the forest with the Coyote or even better yet, the Red Wolf. I am not optimistic that we will see any effort to being back the wolf however.

References

¹ Statement by known Coyote expert, 2009, Bob Timm.

² "Bad Dogs: Why Do Coyotes and Other Canids Become Unruly?" http://www.coyotebytes.org/urban_symposium.html

³ "Prevent Encounters with Black Bears and Avoid Conflicts with Coyotes" June 2006, http://www.dec.ny.gov/environmentdec/18907.html

⁴ "More Isle Coyote Sightings",Galveston County Health District, 2008 - http://www.gchd.org/press/2008/02Coyotesight.htm

⁵ "Behavior of Coyotes in Texas", undated, WILLIAM F. ANDELT, Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University http://texnat.tamu.edu/symposia/coyote/p2.htm

⁶"Coyote Mammals of Texas", Texas A&M, 1994, http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/canilatr.htm

⁷"RESPONSE TO COYOTE PREDATION ON PETS, Dorinda Pulliam City of Austin,TX, USA, 2007, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&context=icwdm_wdmconfproc


⁸"Coyote, Canis latrans", Texas Parks and Wildlife, http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/coyote/

Moon Beams in the forest on the eve of the largest full moon

Not too many people knew this event occurred last night. I didn't until a neighbor brought it to my attention. One thing I like about The Woodlands - people get into nature. When I was a child, my dad and I generated many memories in the dark scary forests. When the moon was out bright, I could go outside in the middle of the night and find the ghosts of the forest along with the wolves and the bear (which were fabricated by stones my dad threw into the forest when I was not looking).

Last night the moon was not only a full moon, it was the largest full moon for the next 15 years. I'd call it Santa's moon this year. I could just see Rudolf and the reindeer practicing their flight under the backdrop of that spectacular moon. With its brightness, there was no need for a flashlight except in the very darkest part of the woods. What is it that makes a person feel eerie when in the woods at night? I shot a few woodsy photos where I could see the moon as a backdrop for the forest. One can see all sorts of strange images drawn by the leaves and branches.

Take a look at the link from Earth Sky about the event itself. The writer explains "perigee", when the moon is closest to the earth. That happens more frequently than every 16 years, but coinciding with the full moon orientation is another matter. You will need to mark your calendar for November 14, 2016, to see it again. Mine is marked. I will probably have to use a wheelchair then to get out to see it, but it is worth going outside in cold weather to view it.

Take a look at these photos and see what you can detect in them. What time of day do you believe these photos were taken?

Acorns or no acorns, the woodlands squirrels must eat

I have noticed that we have no acorns this year on any tree nearby. It first came to my attention when I observed a squirrel outside in the Yaupon eating the berries. Then I thought, if the squirrels are going to eat the berries all winter, what about the Robins in the Spring? What will they eat? Last year, this little guy was eating acorns at this time of year. He has been eating pine cone seeds until recently.

Well, if you noticed what I noticed last year, then there is a clue for you as well. We had a bumper crop of acorns last year. My White Oak produced so many that I thought I was going to go crazy with the acorns hitting the roof and lying all over the patio. Then too, the squirrels were burying the acorns all over the yard, so grass was damaged by their need to save the food for a "rainy day". The acorns were everywhere last year, all over the street, driveways, ... just everywhere and varying species of Oak all contributed to the abundance. There are zero acorns this year. The only ones I have seen were on a few limbs that were toppled by Hurricane Ike but had been in the tree all year as broken limbs, unable to break lose to fall to the ground. Those were all rotted out and useless for food.

So did the hurricane knock all of the acorns off the trees? No, that would be very doubtful. Actually, this is a cyclic pattern of Oak Trees. They usually produce a small amount of acorns in the off year cycle, but this year it appears to be nil. So what to do? Feed the little guys or just let nature do its thing? We will lose some to hunger I think, if we do not feed them. Yet this is the way nature takes care of its own. The birds will have to seek alternate food (worms for example) to continue their trek north in the Spring. They will compete for the berries in the winter, but I have not seen any Robins yet. Where are they? I heard that some of them are staying up north but winter looks pretty harsh this year, so I expect to see them soon.

I am going to provide them and the birds with some seeds in my feeder, but they will have to fare on their own for most of their food.

How did the forest fare from the winds?

Some folks believe that Hurricane Ike destroyed those trees not protected by the wind. One resident questioned why would we keep these trees which used to be in the forest but now are left exposed to fall on houses? In the same breath, the implication is that we do not live in the forest in The Woodlands. I want to assure everyone we do live in the forest. We have a program for reforestation to replace that which is deficient. We also maintain the forest through a management program for disease control, to maintain the integrity of the forest plant diversity, and the general health of the trees. Special attention is given to replacing invasive with native plants. Many seedlings as well as young trees are planted each year.

So here is the dilemma. We saw many trees fallen by the storm in our residential streets and yards. After all was over, the cleanup was very large. So some residents questioned the value of having the trees. We live in The Woodlands, a master planned community of the forest.The trees are and have always been part of our values here. They are the reason the community exists as it does, in a seemingly endless tangled web of paths and streets bounded and entwined with natural green areas. All green areas are intended to be part of the forest with the exception of the golf courses. Even those are supposed to have native trees and bushes.

So were the fallen trees more numerous in the green areas and the yards than in the forest? I took this question to the new county nature trail park on Flintridge. The Spring Creek Reserve area is a large protected section of forest, easily accessed by residents of The Woodlands. Any casual observer will note the large number of fallen trees. My conclusion is that the forest may have more fallen trees per given population than the ones in the homes. One reason for this is the interactions between the trees during the fury of the hurricane. For example, a tree that is uprooted by the storm is likely to fall on other trees during the storm, causing tons of weight to shift on the ground. That causes other nearby trees to be uprooted. Then there is also the "kiss" effect. One tree falling on another will damage the the other by reducing light and just pushing the other tree to an unstable or leaning posture. The density of the vegetation does not necessarily block the wind and protect the trees as some might conclude. IN fact it can have the opposite effect, like a fence. One pole can withstand heavy wind whereas the pole will fall with the fence if attached to the other boards. In other words, the lifting and pushing of a stand of trees and bushes can be considered just like a wall and gives way to the power of the wind where as a single tree lets the wind move around it, less surface and thereby less resistance. Although many fell, many of them will continue to survive for years in their new leaning and tangled positions.

So no, the trees of the forest are not more protected from the winds than the trees in the yards. And no, the trees are not as much a threat to homes as some would lead us to believe. We value our forest and can exclaim now that out trees did exceptionally well in riding out the storm. I sincerely believe that we dodged a bullet because we had healthy trees and vegetation. What we have has been through many many storms in the past. This is good reason to keep native trees and not displace them with invasive trees nor any trees that don't belong here. See related article for a different perspective.