A red rat snake, or corn snake, slithers through the grass at a home in Pensacola. Photo credit: Cole Stevenson
It’s warm here in northwest Florida, which means our cold-blooded reptile friends are on the move. In the last few weeks, I’ve seen a snake at work, one at home, and received snake photos from my neighbors’ and parents’ yards. A fear of snakes seems to be both innate and passed down from one generation to the next. Cryptic by nature, snakes often surprise us when they appear in our path. Their lack of arms and legs feels creepy to us four-limbed mammals, and when you add in the fact that some of them are venomous, it’s a recipe for conflict. If I had a quarter for every time somebody told me, “the only good snake is a dead snake,” I could retire tomorrow.
So, I’m here to make the case for keeping good snakes alive. If you have spent any time around my colleague Rick O’Connor, you know he’s forever picking them up and singing their praises. It’s unlikely that you’ll catch me picking a snake up, but I’m definitely a fan of these fascinating creatures.
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Juvenile red rat/corn snake and a gray rat snake. Photos from the UF Snake ID guide, courtesy of Todd Pierson and Luke Smith.
Half the battle towards conquering a fear of snakes is knowing what you’re looking at. If you can recognize some of the most common nonvenomous snakes and realize which one is in your yard, it’ll take the edge off that first shot of adrenaline. The ones I hear of and see most frequently are garter snakes, black racers, and rat snakes. Rat snakes often have diamond patterned skin, but with practice it is easy to differentiate them from anything with venom. The Florida Museum of Natural History website has a really well done web-based snake identification guide categorized by pattern and using excellent photos.
A gray rat snake hiding out on a tractor. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
Members of the genus Pantherophis are more commonly known as the gray rat snake, (Pantherophis spiloides), red rat snake, aka corn snake (P. guttatus) and the Eastern or yellow rat snake (P. alleghaniensis). We see few Eastern rat snakes in the western Panhandle, but they often interbreed with the gray and red varieties. Full grown, ray rat snakes can grow to be anywhere from 3 to 7 feet long, whereas red rat snakes are usually no more than 4 feet.
Rat snakes are docile, with eye-catching color patterns. I recently came across a gray rat snake curled around a tractor tire at the 4-H property in Barrineau Park. Six of us were standing around within a few feet of it, but the snake ignored us, slowly winding its way around the equipment. At midday, it was resting in the shade and conserving energy. My kids and parents also had an interaction with a rat snake recently. As my son walked through his grandparents’ garage, he stepped on something “squishy” that felt like a hose or rope. To his surprise, it was a large red corn snake, lying right at the threshold of their door. Even after being stepped on, it was alert but not aggressive, slowly finding an escape route into the yard. Snakes generally avoid conflict when given the chance to leave on their own.
A healthy red rat snake in my parents’ garage fled at the sight of humans. Photo credit: Cole Stevenson
As their name implies, rat snakes are known for feeding on rats and mice. They perform an important community service, if you will, keeping the population of vermin in check. They also eat insects, frogs, and birds. Rat snakes are constrictors, but will eat smaller prey whole and alive.
Snakes play an important role in the ecosystem, serving as both predator and prey for many animals. They are in the business of hiding most of the time, and would rather not see people. If you do have a lot of unwanted snake interactions on your property, there are several things you can do to reduce their likelihood, like sealing gaps in buildings where snakes can hide and keeping brush piles well away from a home. But the easiest thing is to observe them from a distance and let them go about their day. While any wild animal will bite in self-defense, the odds of being bitten very low if you don’t harass or try to pick one up!
During rainstorms, pollutants from yards and roads are picked up and flow downstream. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
In most Florida waterways, stormwater runoff is the primary source of pollution. If you think about what gets washed down the drain during a typical rainstorm, it may include anything from trash and construction dirt to oils, gasoline, and chemicals from surrounding lawns.
A lawn care professional reading the safety and instruction labels of agriculture-based pesticides and fertilizers. Photo credit: Tyler Jones, UF IFAS
Pesticides were first regulated at a national level in 1947, with the passing of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). In the early 1970’s, more regulations were put in place at national and state levels. There are specific instructions for use on every bag of insecticide or fungicide sold—a concept we refer to as, “the label is the law”—which homeowners are bound to follow if using own their own yard. But if someone has a professional business where they apply pesticides to yards, golf courses, or other athletic fields, they must have a license to do so. These pesticide licenses vary by type of application and landscape, but earning one entails participation in training, taking a test, and continuing education to maintain certification.
When used properly, fertilizer can help plants thrive. In excess, fertilizer can contribute to major water quality issues. Photo credit: Tyler Jones, UF IFAS
While the nutrients in fertilizer have long been known to contribute to water quality problems–particularly algae blooms–it was not until 2009 that fertilizer was regulated similarly to pesticides in Florida. As of 10 years ago, the state required horticulture professionals applying fertilizer as part of their services to obtain a separate license. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) provides a certification in Green Industries Best Management Practices (GI-BMP), designed to teach the safest and most effective means of using fertilizer products. Instructional classes are typically taught by Extension Agents or other horticulture professionals, or from a self-paced online program.
Agriculture-based pesticide and fertilizer application personal protective equipment (PPE) including boots, gloves, aprons, goggles, respirators, masks, and a Tyvek suit. Photo credit: Tyler Jones, UF IFAS
The GI-BMP courses cover cultural landscape practices, pesticide storage and safety, proper irrigation, and details on fertilizer application. If you are a homeowner hiring a lawn care service, ask about their pesticide and fertilizer licenses. Employing a licensed lawn care professional is not only following the law, but also improves the odds that your lawn will be maintained well and in an environmentally responsible manner.
If you work in this industry and are seeking certification to apply fertilizer, the online classes are available on demand. To see a statewide in-person class schedule, visit the following website: https://gibmp.ifas.ufl.edu/classes.
A typical crane fly on the outside of a building. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
All my life, I’ve known them as mosquito hawks. Built like extra-large, spindly-legged versions of mosquitoes, they look a bit intimidating. However, growing up we were told they were harmless and actually fed solely on mosquitoes. In the days before Google, I just accepted it as fact and was glad to see them around.
In early March, there was a bit of an invasion of these insects. I started seeing them everywhere outdoors and inside my office building. They are slow movers, bouncing in the air more than flying. After several days of seeing them everywhere, though, they pretty much disappeared.
Several crane flies appear to have met their demise inside my office building. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
Like much folk wisdom accrued through my life, the story of the mosquito hawk is not totally true. They are harmless, that much is correct. While many people do know them as mosquito hawks, the accepted common name is the crane fly. Crane flies come in a wide variety of sizes and colors, ranging as some of the smallest and largest species in the fly Order, Diptera. Their diversity is rather mind-blowing, with the Family Tipulidae including about 15,000 species of crane flies worldwide.
Crane fly larvae live in aquatic environments and feed on decaying plant material. Photo credit: North Carolina State University
As for being voracious predators of mosquitoes, we have no such luck. Crane flies barely eat at all, because their adult life span is as short as those two weeks I recently noticed them around. They spend most of their lives as aquatic larvae, living in streams, pond edges, and rotting vegetation. Adults do not have the right mouth anatomy to eat other insect prey, instead drinking only by sponging up water in dew form or taking nectar from plants. Their primary purpose in adulthood is to complete the mating process. Females lay eggs near water, hence the location as larvae. After this hedonistic spring break experience of adult life, they die.
Crane flies, in both larval and adult forms, are popular snacks for other wildlife. The adults are easy targets for birds and bats. The larvae, which in some species are as large as a pinky finger, are tasty morsels for fish and amphibians. During their larval existence, crane flies ingest debris, helping with the decomposition process and filtering the water bodies they live in. Despite their short life span, crane flies make an outsized contribution to the food web.
Rosemary is one of those tough, multi-purpose plants that I’ve come to not just love, but respect. It looks docile enough, but that great-smelling herb on your porch is also capable of serious chemical warfare.
There are two native species we call rosemary found commonly in our dry, sandy habitats, at the beach and in upland scrubs and forests. Neither of these is the culinary rosemary (Salvia rosemarinus) typically grown in herb gardens—that’s from the Mediterranean—but ours are similar.
Florida rosemary has dark green, fir-like needles. Photo credit: Ashlynn Smith, UF IFAS
In northwest Florida, we have Florida rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides) and false rosemary (Conradina canescens). While Florida rosemary is a deep evergreen color year-round and most resembles culinary rosemary, it is not terribly aromatic when crushed. The plants grow in rounded mounds, and are extremely salt, drought, and heat tolerant. Florida rosemary’s yellow flowers are present from spring to early fall. The needles are similar in shape to a fir tree, growing upright and firm to the touch.
False rosemary is a pale green and more aromatic than Florida rosemary. Photo credit: Mack Thetford, UF IFAS
False rosemary is actually a type of scrub mint, and grows in the same habitat as Florida rosemary. It is softer to the touch and lighter in color—the needles are a pale green and the flowers are lavender (as are those of culinary rosemary). To me, false rosemary has a much stronger, more “rosemary-like” scent than Florida rosemary and could be used for cooking. On the internet (including in IFAS publications), you will see contrasting descriptions of the level of scent for these species. However, in my field experience (and that of several Extension colleagues), we find false rosemary to be the most aromatic.
Both Ceratiola and Conradina play important roles in dune ecology. Their mats of woody roots help stabilize the loose sand of vulnerable barrier islands. Their flowers are important for pollinator species, particularly bees.
As for the “chemical warfare” I alluded to earlier, Florida rosemary is one of several native species known to be allelopathic. Allelopathy is a strategy by which plants secrete chemicals through their root systems that seep into the surrounding soils. The Florida rosemary produces ceratiolin, a compound that works like a natural herbicide to prevent growth of any competing species around them. This enables their own successful growth and that of any offspring. You may have noticed that rosemary shrubs often grow in clumps set slightly apart from other species—this is why! Other plants basically cannot enter the underground force-field created by the rosemary plants.
The highly specialized rosemary grasshopper feeds on Florida rosemary in central Florida. Photo credit: Lyle Buss, UF IFAS
In central Florida’s sandy ridges, Florida rosemary also has a few closely associated insect species. The bright green coloration of the rosemary grasshopper allows it to hide in plain sight within the plants. The grasshopper’s diet consists solely of Florida rosemary leaves. Wolf spiders and the rarely-seen cotton leafhopper also live among the rosemary; with the leafhopper eating its flowers and the spider burrowing in the open sandy area around the shrubs.
In the late 1700’s, explorer and naturalist William Bartram and his father, the “King’s Botanist”—visited Pensacola and much of the southeastern United States. Curious observers of everything from plant growth and wildlife to Native American culture, they were also collectors. Countless American plant species were sent to Europe for further examination and later preserved in gardens and arboretums.
The Franklin tree no longer grows in the wild, but was originally discovered and named in the late 18th century near this spot in coastal Georgia. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
If it were not for their formidable observation skills, at least one species of unique native tree would be completely extinct. While traveling along the Georgia coast in 1765, the Bartrams recorded and named a species of small tree they’d never seen anywhere before. They christened it the “Franklin tree” for their friend and compatriot Benjamin Franklin. Known scientifically as Franklinia alatamaha (after Franklin and the nearby Altamaha River), its similarity to the loblolly bay tree landed it in the Gordonia genus for a while. References in the literature to this tree may include Gordonia alatamaha, Gordonia pubescens var. subglabra, or Lacathea florida, although it is now officially Franklinia alatamaha and considered part of the tea tree family.
The attractive bloom of the Franklin tree is reminiscent of magnolia flowers. Photo credit: Scott Zona, used with permission from NCSU Extension
William Bartram knew this species was unique, as he never saw the tree elsewhere in any of his extensive travels. He returned to the area in 1776, this time collecting seeds from the Franklin trees and propagating five of them successfully back at his home in Pennsylvania. The last time this species was seen in the wild was at the original wetland floodplain along the Altamaha River between 1790-1803. Now, the only Franklin trees in existence are all descendants of the seeds collected by William Bartram.
A sign in the Brunswick, GA marine extension office/demonstration garden explains the tree’s unique history. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
Their exact cause of extinction is not clear, but there are some solid theories. Land adjacent to the river was cleared for cotton farms, and the Franklin trees were vulnerable to a fungal pathogen that affects cotton. Based on the early records, the very small endemic population was particularly susceptible to habitat destruction and changing climatic conditions.
While no longer growing in the wild, the tree is mostly living in demonstration gardens and Arboretums on the east coast. However, it can be found in the nursery trade and grown in a large swath of the country if cared for properly. I was introduced to this species for the first time at the Brunswick, Georgia marine extension office. In addition to working with fishermen, they also educate residents on native landscaping and ways to prevent stormwater runoff and pollution. Over a span of a few years, they transformed the “front yard” of their office building from a turf lawn with a couple of oaks to a lush landscape full of flowers, shrubs, and pollinator insects. Included is a Franklin tree, with signage explaining its unique history. At about 15-20 feet tall, it has reached mature height. The original site of the Bartrams’ discovery is less than 20 miles from the garden location.
Just a few years ago, this lush garden consisted only of turf grass and a few live oak trees! Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
