Poisonous Snakes of Kansas

Robert F. Clarke Department of Biology Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia
THE KANSAS SCHOOL NATURALIST Vol. 5 No. 3 February 1959
Published by The Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia
Prepared and Issued by
The Department of Biology, with the cooperation of the Division of Education
Editor : John Breukelman Department of Biology
Editorial Committee : Ina M. Borman, Robert F. Clarke, Helen M. Douglass, Gilbert A. Leisman, Carl W. Prophet, Dixon Smith
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Many persons either do not know anything at all about the poisonous snakes of our state or have a distorted group of misconceptions concerning them. These misconceptions run from plain misknowledge about the range or identification of poisonous snakes to fancifully elaborate stories in which there may or may not be the barest thread of fact.
The prime reason that every person should know the poisonous snakes of his region by sight and know something about their habits, distribution, and abundance is that it will ease the mind of the average individual in all of his outdoor pursuits. Most persons have heard so many false stories about snakes that they develop a fear of all snakes. This fear is unfounded! A person who knows what poisonous snakes he can expect to encounter in a given area need only learn to identify these and realize that all other snakes , lizards , frogs , toads , salamanders , and turtles do not have a poisonous bite, and, therefore, he need not fear them. With a knowledge of the poisonous snakes, a person can avoid places where these snakes might be found. Another aspect is the conservation of snakes. Too many people kill snakes just because they happen to be snakes. This is uncalled for destruction—a non-poisonous snake should no more be killed than a song bird. In many cases, the harmless snakes are of direct economic value.