Spooky the Gopher Snake

aka "Spooky Noodle"

2018-08-06

During one of my rides, I came across a snake lying in the middle of a busy road. It was not a dangerous rattlesnake, but a mild tempered gopher snake. The next upcoming car, visible in the distance, would have surely flattened it. So I carried it off the road, out of harms way.

Gopher snakes are incredibly useful to the environment, and we always hate to see one run-over. Unfortunately, it happens with some regularity.

I thought the snake might have been injured - hit by the previous car, or perhaps suffered a glancing blow. I didn't want to leave it there, so placed it my tank bag and took it home, for evaluation, recuperation and caregiving if need be.

Arriving home, I pulled the motorcycle into the garage and bid Jenny come open my tank bag. Very often when out riding I will buy her a treat from a store. She unzipped the tank bag and found - not a treat - but a large snake - at which point she let out a shriek and went running away. So I named the snake "Spooky."

We notified the animal rescue, and they said to just keep an eye on it. If all looks well in the coming days, I will release it back to the same vicinity. Or if not, the animal rescue has offered snake food (mice).

I didn't have a cage, so placed the snake in an old tank bag, and placed in on my desk. The snake found the tank bag very comfy, and slept all day.

Then towards evening I took it to the backyard.

Tried to give it some water, but so far - no luck. (The tank bag cubby hole has water also.)

The snake appears to have no inclination to escape. It appears to have no fear of being picked up, and doesn't bite or even hiss.

Third Day

Hard to tell in this photo, but I'm giving the snake a shower from the garden hose. I haven't seen it drink water, so figure a warm shower will help keep it hydrated. It doesn't seem to mind getting wet, although it doesn't like swimming in the water bowl.

After the shower, the snake is relaxing in my lap, absorbing the heat of my body.

I put the snake in a box with a one-day old baby Mourning Dove (squab). The bird kept pecking at the snakes head, as though wanting to be fed. A few hours of that, and I returned the bird back to its nest.

So far the snake will not take food, try as we have. We have offered a mouse, and a fresh dove egg. As a last resort, I even broke the egg shell and smeared some the contents on the snake's snout. the snake only wiped it off on the grass.

cap

Pituophis "pit-chew-oh'-fis" (gopher snakes, bull snakes, and pine snakes). This one is a Gopher Snake - Pituophis catenifer "ca-Ten'-e-fer" ref | ref

I have noticed something strange: When I set Spooky down on the ground, it will slowly crawl away, but only for 18 inches. Then it will turn back and crawl back to me. I have tried this dozens of times, and always with the same results.

Spooky has been living in the tank bag. The tank bag doesn't have a lid, but the snake doesn't try to get out. However, it likes to be with me, so I made it a box with an entrance hole, and put the box on my bed. At that, the snake decided it likes my bed instead of the box.

Spooky slept with me for two nights. All went well until I rolled over onto her in my sleep. If the reader has ever been woken up by a big snake trashing under you - in your bed, then you will know the shock and surprise. But no harm done to either of us. However, to keep the snake safe, I placed her back in the tank bag for the night.

Release (Attempt)

After six days in captivity, it was time to release Spooky back into the wilds. I took her back near to where I had found her.

I moved back, and the snake made a bee-line for me.

We repeated this a few times. Every time, the snake came back, and sometimes crawled up on me.

More prompting each time, then finally, there she goes!

Nope.

Release failed. We will try again some other time.

A Week in Captivity

I could have walked away, and left the snake there. And next time I will do just that. But yesterday, it kept returning to me, time again.

These snakes are smarter than most people realize. They have a range of emotions, and their skin is loaded with sensory preceptors, from one end to the other. They sense both temperature and touch. They are programmed to react to anything that touches them. Anything that touches them means danger. So when we touch the snake, even lightly, it tenses up.

At the same time, these snakes spend the winters in common burrows with other snakes. Gopher snakes, bull snakes, garter snakes, and rattlesnakes, all live together. They lay on each other and actually entwine, to help stay warm.

That might be one reason that gopher snakes, bull snakes, and garter snakes are said to be easy tamed. They do not mind being handled, and so far this one has never bit, or even hissed at us. It doesn't try to escape. It likes to explore the surroundings, but always circles back, for some reason.

I tried feeding the snake every day, but so far its not hungry. I've tried baby birds, bird eggs, and re-thawed frozen mice. We have an unlimited supply bird eggs and babies, because we have lots of these birds nesting in our yard, and they are prolific. And except for one egg, I always return the eggs, and the baby, back to its nest.

I have handled this snake a great deal, always gently, and have given it plenty of opportunities to roam around our back yard, with close supervision. Its very curious and likes to explore, but doesn't like to go far from me. I don't know the reason for this, but it always circles back. I've seen this a great many times, and so yesterday's behavior didn't come as a surprise. For some reason, the snake almost seems to prefer my company. And again, I don't know the reason for this. But its an interesting animal, that's for sure.

10 days

Spooky goes for a swim. Our back yard gets flooded several times during the monsoon, and last night was one of those times. This water evaporates fast, and the ground will be dry later today. Meanwhile, given the chance, Pituophis's are good swimmers. And notice which way he is headed - straight for me.

2018-08-15 Timeline: The final release will happen in another four days. The snake has been drinking from the garden hose every day, but still not eating.

Spooky is Set Free

2018-08-19

I released the snake into this bush, and true to form, he crawled back out.

Try again over here:

Crawling back out.

I made a water dish out of an old recycled bottle, and left it there. Will pick it back up in a couple of days, so as not to litter the landscape.

Hard to say goodbye. Spooky was such a great friend, and I had become so attached to him. This is a sad day, but keeping him was not right. True, I may have saved his life when I found him out in the road, and I could see the next car coming. He surely would have been flattened, if not by that car, then the next one after that. I've seen dead gopher snakes along side the road, during my rides. And at the time I thought he was injured, having been hit by the previous car perhaps. And this is why I took him home, for recuperation if need be. He was super friendly to begin with, and I kind of wonder if someone else had released him here. What is very strange is he did not know how to drink from standing water, like a puddle or pond (or a water dish). He drank a great deal every day, but only if I hold the garden hose above him, so that the water trickles down from above. Also very strange: when I let him go, he crawls back to me, and usually he crawls up on me. This is not how a wild snake behaves. However, the chances that it has been in captiviy before are very slim. In which case he belongs out here, hunting rodents and keeping their population under control, and also procreating his species. So after two weeks of being good friends, I left him here, hoping that he will be OK.

Epilogue

The following morning I rode back to the release site to check on Spooky. I couldn't find him anywhere, and that was encouraging. He has moved on. I planted a water dish, and filled it. I'll come back in another two days and fill it again - for any creatures in need. However, there must be water somewhere, because the mosquitoes are out in droves. Also, in the nearby wash I found two snake tracks that led to more bushes. Could have been Spooky or another snake.