Hobbies And Interests
Defensive Theatrics
Texas harbors two species of hognose snake -- the eastern and western -- which exhibit some of the more eccentric behaviors of the state's reptiles. These snakes are typically spotted or uniformly dark and can be distinguished by a heavy head in proportion to body size and an upturned snout, used for rooting out burrowing prey. When threatened, these serpents engage in an intricate defensive routine: They first flatten their necks and hiss noisily, attempting to bluff their way out of trouble. If such aggression fails to dissuade the potential predator, the snake writhes about and turns belly-up with jaws agape and tongue protruding to "play possum." The snake will flip over again if it's righted during this death-mimicry routine.
Rattlesnake Hunter
Certainly one of the most impressive serpents on the continent, the Texas indigo snake is the state's longest: Particularly lengthy specimens may exceed 8 feet. Big, robust and glossy, indigo snakes lack venom but have the strength and power to hunt a range of animals, from birds to other snakes. Texans have long admired indigos for their habit of preying on rattlesnakes and other venomous serpents like cottonmouths. Indigo snakes subdue their victims essentially with jaws alone, though they may brace prey against the ground with their bodies; they do not constrict. Native to the mesquite, buckthorn and whitebrush scrub of the South Texas coastal plain and adjacent Mexico, they are closely related to the eastern indigo snake of Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.
Tree-climbing
Dense shrubs and vine thickets of eastern Texas often conceal the rough green snake, a beautiful, whip-thin, big-eyed snake colored striking green above and pale below. This slender hunter spends much of its time in arboreal haunts, prowling branches, twigs and shoots for invertebrates, like spiders, crickets and grasshoppers. On occasion it will snag a treefrog, as well. Often such foraging takes place in tangles along streams and wetlands, into which the snakes also readily go. Adults may be 2 or 3 feet long.
Heat-seeking
Texas has a number of species of pit vipers, which include all but one of the state's venomous serpents. (The exception is the small coral snake, more closely allied with Old World cobras.) These rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and copperheads possess sophisticated heat-sensing pits below their eyes that help them detect and strike at small, warm-blooded animals. Pit vipers are well-distributed in the state. In the east, timber rattlesnakes roam upland woods while cottonmouths and massasaugas cruise cypress swamps. In the plains, deserts and mountains of West Texas, the biggest pit viper in the state, the western diamondback rattlesnake, is large enough to hunt cottontails, while the smaller Mojave rattlesnake of arid basins has some of the most potent venom. These snakes are often active mainly at night, spending the heat of the day concealed in burrows or crevices.