While so many other local snake enthusiasts foam at the mouth at the prospect of searching for and finding big, meaty snakes like bullsnakes, milk snakes, kingsnakes, and such (species I refer to as "big game"), my life-long fascination with the smaller, leaner, and usually rougher-textured snakes has never ever waned. Don't get me wrong - my appreciation for snakes applies to all species. But personally, it's the scrappy little garter snakes, the secretive and mysterious Kirtland's snakes, the enigmatic lined snakes, and the pugnacious water snakes that command my attention more so than the others.
These snakes, and others like them, belong in the family Colubridae and subfamily Natricinae. The local natricines are usually small, lean snakes with keeled scales that impart a rough feel and texture. Most are strongly associated with water, and many feed at least in part upon aquatic animals like annelids, amphibians, fish, and crayfish. Though some local natricines are habitat generalists, others are to a degree choosy about where they can live. In spring, summer, and fall Chicago, one doesn't have to search long and far to find the plains garter snake, a resourceful serpent that has eked out an existence living among weedy railroad rights of way or in backyards. Finding a Graham's crayfish snake, though, is going to require a lot of research and probably a pair of comfortable waders.
I probably have a soft spot for the snakes in this group because they were the first snakes I saw, captured and kept in captivity when I was really young. But my fascination for them transcends nostalgia. Their peculiar habits continue to have me wondering, and in my opinion, the group on the whole is sorely understudied. Most aren't rare. Their relative abundance doesn't seem to necessitate conservation measures by governmental organizations. We take the yellow-striped black snakes for granted because they are pretty stinkin' common. A lot of the recreational field herpers refer to them as "junk snakes", an asinine gesture if you ask me.
As I get older, I find myself whittling my herpetological focus down to certain groups or certain species. Natricines are one of those groups, and though they aren't gaudy or aristocratic as defined by the broader contingent of herpetologists, they've got my vote. There's so much to be learned of the Kirtland's snake's natural history, the queen snake's dietary evolution, the garter snake's pheromonal communication, and the water snake's...attitude. It is certainly a group of reptiles that brings me joy each day, and one that deserves more attention.
