May 15, 2007 9:04 am US/Mountain
Experts: Snakes Can Be Beneficial
Aurora Conservation Center Teaches About Snakes Good Deeds
by Paul Day
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ―
The warm spring weather means snakes are coming out in Colorado. Naturalists want people to know that the most common type of snake, the bull snake, is harmless to people.
Experts said the bull snake gets a bum rap because the mouse eating snake mimics the rattle snake as a defense against predators.
Some people don't bother to distinguish between the two.
"Many of these snakes end up being killed or injured unnecessarily because of that," said Lee Wise, a naturalist at the Plains Conservation Center in Aurora.
The center teaches that all snakes, including venomous rattlers, are beneficial to controlling rodents and people should leave them alone.
"Most people who get big have been catching them, trying to kill them, doing something that the snake feels very threatened by," said Tudi Arneill of the conservation center.
(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
