WASHINGTON — Ian Fleming wrote: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.”
So it’s understandable if folks might be worried about a reptilian invasion slithering over the D.C. area.
- First, a copperhead was recently sighted taking in the National Mall’s, uh, sights.
- Then a snake showed up in the living room of a Stafford, Virginia, home.
- And then a snake emerged from an air vent of a woman’s SUV in Warrenton, Virginia.
What’s the deal here? Is this apparently widespread phenomenon just the product of some weirdo writer’s imagination? Is it merely hysteria drummed up by the media?
Yes.
Unfortunately, there will be no nightmarish snake invasion. It’s actually nature doing its thing, according to an expert at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Access to social media, he said, just makes it seem widespread.
“There isn’t a giant explosion of snakes in the Maryland/D.C./Virginia area,” said Matthew Evans, the zoo’s assistant curator of reptiles and amphibians.
There are a few things behind such incidents, he said. First, housing and other development keep expanding into snake habitats. It’s also that time of year when snakes are looking for mates, so they’re venturing out of their normal territory.
“That’s when their home range is expanding and they’re moving around more,” Evans said.
The weather is a factor as well. Snakes prefer to venture out when it’s not too hot (April — early June). And they might be trying to flee the heavy rains of late. Flooding, he said, can actually relocate snakes to areas they would otherwise never travel.
If one of these amorous, rain-swept snakes ends up surprising you in, say, your kitchen, Evans suggests that you first identify what type it is. (Mobile internet devices make that fairly easy.) Get animal control involved if you have good reason to think it’s a copperhead or some other poisonous variety.
More than likely, however, it’s a harmless variety such as a black rat snake.
“Everybody thinks they see a copperhead,” he said. “Very rarely are people actually seeing copperheads.”
Just pick it up and move it if you’re certain it’s harmless, he said. Too icky? Then get creative, he suggested.
“Pick it up with a stick and just move it,” he said. ” … These animals are very easy to pick up with a stick and put in a bucket.
“They don’t need to be killed and have their heads cut off.”
What snakes do need is good eating. Mice and rats are a big staple in their diet, Evans said. To avoid an unsettling encounter of your own, he suggests doing what you can to keep the food away from your house. Piles of debris nearby are popular with snake food, so spend a Sunday afternoon or two and get rid of those piles.
“[If you have] things that attract mice and rats, you’re going to attract animals that eat mice and rats,” Evans said.
