The Living Landscape: The forest sharp-tailed snake
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As the daylight hours lengthen and plants drink in the critical rays of sunlight, it's easy to become almost transfixed by the contrast evident around us.
Spidery, bare limbs of flora are just now awakening to the gentleness of greenery that is set in motion.
Shoots, buds and vegetation have all taken in the light changes, with their incessant interactions.
On a balmy morning in southern Lake County I was observing all of this quiet frenzy while strolling and sneaking looks under rocks and downed limbs of bay and oak trees to see what I can see.
Leaf litter is also working its magic by undergoing the constant effort of the nutrient cycle, recycling and decomposing away, via light, heat and biological action, into tiny molecules that are free for use by any organism in the ecosystem.
Amidst the profusion of "action" I almost missed a quiet resident – the forest sharp-tailed snake.
This secretive, slim snake is non-poisonous and can be found in damp, forested areas throughout Northern California, southern Oregon, and as far north as British Columbia, mainly along the North Coast areas.
To identify this species and differentiate it from its cousin, the common sharp-tailed snake, www.CaliforniaHerps.com says it is helpful to view the caudal scales and length of the tail. The caudal scales are found on its tail, behind the cloaca.
The common sharp-tailed snake has between 24 and 43 caudal scales, while the forest sharp-tailed snake holds 43 to 58 scales and is around 20 percent of the snake's length.
Considered a small species of snake, the forest sharp-tailed snake averages 11 inches long. Their hatchlings average about 3 inches in length.
The snakes make use of their lengthy teeth to grip and consume a diet of fat slugs, slug eggs and tiny salamanders.
They prefer to come out of their leaf-litter or damp burrow-homes when the air temperature is at around 50 degrees, as well as after a nice rain.
According to a 2018 draft paper written by Christopher J. Evelyn and Samuel S. Sweet at the Institute for Computational and Earth System Science at the University of California Santa Barbara for the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region these snakes seem to be slow-growing as well as long-lived.
In one of their studies which took place in British Columbia, it was estimated that the snakes took five to six years to mature.
Like most small critters, these snakes have many predators, including birds, mammals and both amphibians and reptiles such as ring-necked snakes.
To deter predators these wily snakes can coil and 'musk' or emit a nasty-smelling liquid that is sure to make the enemy run for cover!
With the profusion of snake species in Lake County, this slithering serpent, or his relatives may just show themselves to you on a mild end-of-winter or early spring day.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, freelance writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.”