Archives of The Cold Blooded News

The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society

Volume 32, Number 6;   June, 2005

Search for a Shy Serpent

by Jeff Gearino

He's very shy; loves to eat small frogs, very small dead fish, and the occasional centipede; and has been known to hide under cow pies on warm summer days. The problem is, he has officially been seen only one time in Wyoming, way back in 1985, and scientists aren't sure if he's even around anymore.

So, Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials are asking for the public's help in gathering more data about the possible numbers and distribution of the tiny but mildly venomous Plains Blackhead Snake. "They're very, very secretive ... but then again we haven't had a whole lot of people looking for it," said herpetologist Bill Turner, a Game and Fish reptile/amphibian biologist. "We're curious to know if it's widespread, if they're uncommon throughout the state or if they're just peripheral to the state," he said. "We're trying to get the public to help us out ... because this is an animal that we've had only one sighting of in the state so far."

Game and Fish officials say although there are about 40 reptile and amphibian species in the state, biologists have little or very limited information on most of the species. "One example of species we need to know more about ... is the Plains Blackhead Snake," Turner said. He said the reptile's population status is currently "unknown" in Wyoming. Turner has recently been working with scientists and other biologists to learn more about Wyoming's reptiles and amphibians. The effort is part of a larger department initiative to help preserve those nongame species with the greatest conservation needs.

The Plains Blackhead Snake was first found in Wyoming in August 1985 -- near Glendo Dam in east-central Wyoming -- by two eminent herpetologists, Ellen Censky and C. J. McCoy, during a "typical collecting run" through Wyoming, Turner said in a phone interview. The pair wrote an article about the discovery, which was the first official documentation of the species, he said. Turner said while the article was being printed, another important book on Wyoming herpetology -- "Amphibians and Reptiles of Wyoming," by the late George Baxter and Mike Stone -- was also published. But the Plains Blackhead Snake was omitted from the Baxter/Stone book, which later became the preferred reference for herpetology in the state. Turner said since then, the snake has been largely overlooked by scientists.

The snake has grooved teeth in the rear of its mouth. Turner said some scientists think the fangs help inject toxic saliva into its prey. "When we say venomous, that's just the venom in its saliva... It's a tiny snake, and the primitive injection system poses little or no threat to humans," he said. Turner said if the Plains Blackhead Snake is discovered again in the state, it would mean Wyoming has two venomous snake species. The other is the Western Rattlesnake, with its subspecies -- the Midget Faded Rattler and the Prairie Rattler.

Turner was hired in 2003 by the Game and Fish Department to be the agency's first herpetologist, according to Walt Gasson, the agency's special planning coordinator. He said the department used federal funding from the State Wildlife Grants program to hire Turner. In 2001, Congress established the program to provide funding for states to help conserve species of greatest conservation need. Through September 2004, the state received almost $2 million in SWG money. Gasson said the department is in the process of writing a comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy to continue receiving the federal funding. He said while the department is charged with conserving all wildlife, limited funding has sometimes hampered efforts to manage nongame species such as the Plains Blackhead Snake.