With the weather warming up and summer here, many varieties of snakes are doing the same.

Many people hate snakes, but … a pet peeve of mine is seeing snakes run over in the road. I know some snakes are sunning themselves and get run over accidentally. But most people feel like, “the only good snake is a dead snake,” and nave no real knowledge (or caring) of what they’re destroying. They just aim and ask questions later.

So I decided my commentary this month would be about our legless friends in hopes that those reading this commentary will understand why it’s important to keep these critters alive and well.

(Side note: Herpetology is the study of amphibians and reptiles, which is where I concentrated on my research. During my docent training at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center, I was relieved to find out herpetology was note the study of herpes. Thank goodness for that.)

In Southern California, we have an abundance of snakes of many varieties. Thus, for our purposes here, I’m going to keep this as simple as I can. I placed the snakes into two groups – common non-venomous and common venomous, to the general area of Santa Clarita and adjacent communities.

For clarification: Rattlesnakes are often referred to as “poisonous.” Snakes are NOT poisonous; they are “venomous.” Poison is something introduced through absorbing, consuming or inhaling a toxin. An example would be poison oak or sumac, or maybe a vengeful person putting anti-freeze in your soda bottles. Venom from a snake is a bio-toxin that is injected through fangs. The snake has glands below the eye that produce venom which, depending on the species of snake, can cause paralysis, hemorrhage or even coma or death.

Non-venomous snakes will bite if provoked. They coil and hiss in their own feeble attempt to let you know, “Watch out. I’m a scary reptile and you’d better leave me alone.” It works, too. But the truth is, no snake (venomous or non-) wants to hunt you down and harm or kill you.

All local snakes are placid creatures with two things in mind. One is to eat, and the other is to get warm in the sun, since they are cold-blooded animals. Well, maybe mating is another item on their agenda, but I won’t go into that here.

Back to non-venomous snakes. Most are “constrictors,” meaning theybite their prey, coil tightly around it until the catch has suffocated. Eww, huh?

Here is a list of only a few of the non-venomous snakes you might run into in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys:

1. The gopher snake. Patterns on this snake are beautiful. In fact, there was one on my road sunning itself just this past weekend. It had to be at least 3.5 to 4 feet long but very docile. I think I woke it up. I chucked a few pebbles at it to get it to move out of the road so it wouldn’t get run over. It smiled and said “thank you” in snake talk and moved on.

As the name implies, they go after gophers as their main diet. See? You run it over in the street and that means all of the gophers in your neighborhood are going to concentrate their tunneling under your carefully manicured lawn. For protection, this snake is a master at mimicking a rattlesnake by enlarging its head to emulate the heart-shaped head of a rattler, and it will also rattle its tail in leaves or leaf litter to make you think it’s dangerous. It certainly does sound exactly like a rattler.

2. The California king snake. This species is one of my favorites. They’re calm and non-aggressive, although like the gopher snake, they will rattle their tail to make you think they’re venomous. Don’t let that fool you. Being called “king” refers to their tendency to hunt and eat other snakes, including rattlesnakes. California king snakes are naturally resistant to the venom that’s produced by rattlesnakes, although they are not totally immune; therefore, they usually only seek out the rattlesnakes when absolutely necessary.

3. The rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata) is of the Boidae family, one of only two members of that family native to the United States. The other is the rubber boa (Charina bottae), non-native to California. I had no idea we naturally had boas in California. A rosy boa is another constrictor and is actually a native to the United States. Feeding mostly on mice, this snake makes a great pet if purchased through a reputable source. I would not recommend trying to capture one in the wild and take it home – they are known occasionally to bite.

4. A coachwhip or Western racer snake (Masticophis flagellum): a couple of names for one snake. A whipcoach has keen eyesight and therefore uses its eyesight and speed to catch prey. It has been recorded that this snake can travel up to 65 mph. This is a beautifully colored snake in many varieties. I’ve seen red and blue on my property, but that’s not all there is. They are harmless, mostly because they can get away much faster than any predator. Their impressive length can reach from 5 to 8 feet as an adult.

Red coachwhip

There are many other species of non-venomous snakes that live in our area. You can search the Internet to find more.

A point to take into consideration: There are “legless lizards” in the Santa Clarita Valley. Don’t mistake these docile animals for snakes. Besides the fact that legless lizards don’t get very large, the way you can tell if it’s not a snake is that snakes don’t have eyelids. Legless lizards do.

Venomous snakes

Now comes the truly necessary and informative part for your health and safety. There are two species of rattlesnakes in our area that are noteworthy. One is the Mojave green rattler. The other is the Western diamondback (which includes the red diamondback in some areas).

1. The Mojave green rattler. This beautifully patterned snake has a greenish body and is usually smaller in size than a diamondback. Its coloring can vary from green to a greenish gray, olive green or even brownish or yellow. It does have the diamond pattern, but it can be distinguished from a diamondback by the pattern at the end of its body.

A Mojave green has black and white bands on its tail with the white bands being slightly (but noticeably) larger than the adjacent black bands. These snakes do not have the banding around the eyes like a diamondback. Mojave green rattlers have a tendency to bite first and give a warning rattle later. So beware. The Mojave green rattlesnake has extremely potent venom, considered 10 times more toxic than other North American rattlesnakes – making the Mojave rattlesnake one of the most dangerous poisonous snakes in the United States. Their venom works as a neurotoxin, often called Mojave toxin. Strangely, the bite of a Mojave rattlesnake is usually not as painful as other rattlesnake bites. The Mojave rattlesnake lives mainly in the high desert and lower mountain slopes. Its habitat may vary from the dry desert to grasslands and bushes. It is most commonly found in scattered, scrubby growth like creosote bush and mesquite and is rarely found in rocky or hilly areas.

2. The Southern Pacific rattler. This magnificent reptile can become very large. Its monotone blacks, greys and white distinguish it from all other rattlers. The Southern Pacific rattlesnake, one of the largest rattlesnakes, is one of several dangerously venomous rattlesnake species native to California. Their venom is highly toxic to humans and occasionally fatal; however, they strike humans only if cornered or threatened. Venom from the Southern Pacific rattlesnake is primarily hemorrhagic, which affects the blood.

3. Red-tail diamondbacks. Another “Diamondback” that can be found in the High Desert is the Red-tailed diamondback with its beautiful coloring and black and white striped tail. Found on Mojave’s high desert, it is the least potent when it comes to venom. That doesn’t mean you should go and get bitten to learn the difference. It means you’re lucky if you cross this little guy as opposed to a Mojave green.

Should you get bitten, go immediately to your local emergency room. If possible, provide an accurate description of what you saw (or the specimen): Note the color of the snake, its pattern and approximate length and size so you can report this information to the doctor. The better you can identify what bit you, the better your chances are of recovery. Some snakes’ venom affects the neurotoxins, while others cause hematoma or clotting of your blood or bleeding out. Doctors will be better able to provide you with the correct anti-venom if you are able to provide accurate information.

I encourage anyone who is interested in identifying the various local snakes in your area to visit the Placerita Canyon Nature Center – or any other local nature center, depending on where you live – so you can determine the differences between these amazing creatures, whether dangerous or passive. Their fate when sunning on the road is in your hands. They just want to live like any other creature in nature, so they do not need to be targeted to display the tread marks of your car tires.

Given that, enjoy the awesomeness of our natural world. Please avoid running over those creatures in the road that consume the pests that you spend money trying to get rid of – mice, rats, gophers, etc. Snakes are nature’s best rodent pest control system, and then some.

Mari Carbajal is a docent-naturalist at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center.