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    Micrurus alleni, the arrow-headed coral snake. Photo via Clodomiro Picado Institute of the University of Costa Rica
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Published on Monday, June 10, 2024
They eat rodents, frogs, insects,
and even other snakes. True, they
can startle you when they slither
out of the undergrowth, but they
will usually slither away from you.
After all, you are really quite large from a snake’s viewpoint, and
snakes, small-brained as they are,
know that you can’t be swallowed. So, is there any point in being afraid of a snake in the garden? Well,
sure! Okay, most snakes are
harmless. Take the little coffee
snake for example, or the salmon-bellied
racer. Totally harmless, both of them and the racer is a real beauty, that is a view from the standpoint of
someone who likes snakes, your viewpoint may differ... I find coffee snakes all the time.
Usually, they are less than a foot
or so in length and very timid. You can pick one up (if you are so
inclined) and handle it with no
worries at all (if you aren’t so inclined, just leave it alone and it will go away). Most of the time, you won’t even see a snake, especially if you
have been tromping in the yard. Snakes have no ears so they are alerted to danger by
vibrations in the ground. Scared of snakes? Bang the ground with a
shovel now and then to alert them
and they will probably slither away
as fast as they can. There are only a couple of snakes
we need to worry about here in Costa
Rica. And I have seen a couple of
them. The terciopelo is the
most common biter and it’s the reason that I tend to stomp when I am out
walking. It is also the reason that I use a long-handled claw to pull
vegetation out from around trees and
shrubs. On chilly rainy days, snakes like to curl up and stay
warm in decaying vegetation and
under logs. Fortunately, they are usually so
cold at that point that they have to be really, really, annoyed to wake up and strike.
Then there are the coral snakes with their beautiful red, black, and yellow bands. They are generally small and because they are back-fanged, their bite tends to be thwarted by boots. They also have a lot of imitators. Look in any book on reptiles in Costa Rica and you will see a lot of snakes with red, black, and yellow bands all totally harmless. I encountered it under a piece of wood one chilly morning (he was way too big to be a coral snake) and just admired him until he moved away. Both the eyelash viper and the terciopelo are pit vipers. The pits that contain their poison are bulges in the snake’s head that make it look triangular. This allows you to look at the snake from a distance and decide if you need to run the other way. The coral snake, however, has a nice smooth head so leave all the pretty snakes alone. So, if you don’t like snakes, get out there and shake the ground. Pretty much any snake will head for the hills. Be careful lifting logs and cleaning out under shrubs. Most of all, remember that the majority of snakes are good for the world and harmless. Try to adopt a positive attitude and share space with them.
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