It’s officially snake season at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest!
Last week, we had to recall Jamie’s group off of Young’s Hill 5 times by 10:30am! Whoa!
Luckily, most of our snake encounters are with non-venomous snakes, like the one we caught in the greenhouse, which you’ll see in today’s video.
Caregiver Ellen identified this snake as a Western yellow-bellied racer, Coluber constrictor mormon! That’s quite a mouthful!
According to Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, the Western racer (Coluber constrictor) is one of 11 subspecies of the North American racer. Racers occur in warm, dry open or brushy country. They are often observed streaking across roads. The racer holds its head and neck above the ground when hunting, and it may climb into shrubs (we found it sitting in the middle of a bamboo bush!). The diet of racers includes small mammals, reptiles, and insects.
We try our darndest to keep the chimps safe from venomous snakes. Our 4 acre outdoor enclosures are surrounded by snake fencing that extends several inches into the ground. Every day, before letting the chimps out onto Young’s Hill and the Bray, we do a perimeter check to ensure that the snake fencing is still in place. But there are certain types of snakes that have the ability to get around the snake fencing because they’re so tiny, so it’s up to us to catch them and remove them from the property – luckily they are usually non-venomous.
For more stories about our snake encounters, check out the following blog posts:
Krissy that’s funny, I just rewatched “Snake Hunters” (Death by Troll Doll) yesterday! That was one, you’ll remember, from the days when Bubba held back away from the action, ready to offer a hug to whomever needed it. And I wondered how it was goung.
But 5 times in one motning! Wow! There must have been a nest on the Hill or just outside.
Did Jamie seem to understand that it was in the bucket?
Good job, Ellen! I’m only afraid of the venomous ones, but haven’t handled them enough to be the designated wrangler! The chimpy people are lucky to have you.
Have the Californians had any besides the 1?
“Job well done ” is a very fitting summing up of that situation and thank you, Ellen, for your snake catching prowess (you are very brave!). Loved the way the chimps simply carried on with their day afterwards and that the snake was safely released. Snake season indeed but you are all on the ball with that one.
Five serpents by ten-thirty in the morning?! I surmise that this quintet mistakes your acronym as “Coluber Sanctuary Northwest”.
Yikes! Five snake sightings in one week?! I get spooked by snakes, too. I found something so cozy and comforting about Jamie and Foxie, both safely tucked away inside chomping on their corn while they were peeking in on their personal rescue squad. Thanks Krissy and Ellen for coming to their rescue.
“Superior Snake Catching Abilities”. I hope that’s noted on your resume, Ellen, because that particular skill could come in handy anywhere!!
I hope anyone there finds one before Annie does.
Oh boy, snake season! I imagine this is Annie’s least favorite time of year!
it’s great to have such good snake spotters! I’d be alarm crying too!
Well done Ellen! Do the chimps vary their alarm depending on what type of snake or is it just “SNAKE, SNAKE, SNAKE!” Love how you showed them the bucket so they wouldn’t be worrying.
Judging by Jamie’s reaction to the snake in her new picture book (Christmas 2015), I’d say it’s “SNAKE! SNAKE! SNAKE!”
Thanks Linda, I started watching all the videos from the start, haven’t got to that one yet
Oh, Anne, it’s one ofmy favorites! up there with “sharing” an Thanksgiving 2018′
Thank you to snake wrangler Ellen for a job well done in for saving the chimps from any further distress. And great teamwork. Very brave.
Great job finding the intruder and great efforts building the special fence.
Would the chimps alarm-call just by spotting any unknown intruder (a hedgehog or a lizard, for example), or is this instinct – because it can’t be learnt – only for snakes? Because if this instinct – snake!!!!! – exist in chimps, I wonder why we humans lost it?
Hi Adrienne. I say this laughingly but I’m dead serious–it’s not lost in me! 🙂
It’s interesting, because I live in a snake-free country (okay, we have 2 slightly venomous species, but they are so rare that they need protection), and I don’t have any special “attitude” towards snakes, probably because I didn’t learn to fear them. If it were an instinct, I should be afraid of them, right? (Not sure, just asking)
It’s funny, because I have seen them teaching the baby orangutans at Jungles School how to be afraid of snakes. Teaching them that they should be. My state is like you, I’m guessing either England or Scotland, and we don’t have any venomous species here (unless a couple sneak over our northern border).
But Mave has freaked out over a tree frog before. And Negra ate one :yum:
Yes, as I remember, they also taught chimps in Tschimpounga Sanctuary how to react “properly’ to snakes.