Whose Track is That? What About Scat? Other Signs of Reptiles and Amphibians-Continued!

Not snake tracks: Sometimes, other “squiggles” in the sand or soil created by burrowing beetles or other insects can be confused for snake tracks due to their similar serpentine fashion, but are too narrow in width and lack a decided direction and coordination/orientation in a forward direction, which set them apart from any snake tracks.

Sometimes, very large and heavy bodied snakes such as some boas, pythons, and anacondas may also leave behind other slide or push marks or trails through the areas they frequent or are traveling through simply due to their sheer weight and size.

Example of a Snake’s Shed Skin.

Shed skins are one of the most recognizable and commonly found forms of evidence which are also left behind by snakes aside from their tracks. As with all reptiles, snakes periodically will shed their skin, the frequency of which can depend on the species, age, and health of the snake. A snake’s shed skin is typically soft and wet or moist due to the humidity snakes need to shed their skin, but dries out and becomes more brittle over time. By looking at a snake’s skin, it can often be possible to determine the species which left it behind using certain features on the shed such as any residual patterning, structure of their scales (whether keeled or smooth/unkeeled), divided or single anal plate, and other scale row counts. One might find a snake skin left behind intertwined amongst rocks, fallen branches or tree roots, logs or stumps, or other places where snakes can gain leverage in order to be able to rub on and push against in order to shed their skin.

© Wildlife Thailand. All snakes lack eyelids, instead having a clear transparent scale covering their eyes called a spectacle. This spectacle can often be seen left behind on a snake shed.

Example of Snake Scat. A snake’s feces are usually dark brown, greenish brown, or blackish, and wet when first laid, but harden over time. Most snake scat is tubular, and is also interspersed with a whitish or yellowish ovular deposit known as urates. As with other squamate reptiles, these urates are the snake’s nitrogenous waste, as snakes do not produce urine as mammals do. Snake droppings or scat might be found along trails or paths, near water sources, underneath rocks or logs, or underneath or around anywhere else the snakes may happen to be frequenting or passing through by.

A clutch of snake eggs. Some snakes lay external eggs, which is known as being Oviparous. Snake eggs may vary in size and number in a clutch depending on the species, age, and size of the snake which laid them, but generally have white, leathery outer surfaces, and are slightly oblong. Snakes such as kingsnakes, milk snakes, bullsnakes or gopher snakes, racers, hognose snakes, and rat snakes are some examples of oviparous snakes. Other snakes, however, give birth to “live” young, where the eggs develop and hatch internally and is known as Ovoviviparous. Natricine snakes such as garter snakes, water snakes, and pit vipers such as rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and copperheads of North America are ovoviviparous. Snake eggs usually are laid in somewhat moist, humid microclimates underneath or within mulch piles or other piles of rotting vegetative debris, rotting stumps or logs, underneath rocks, or in similar places.

Eastern Hognose Snake digging a nest chamber in which to lay eggs. © Jacob Korbel. Most snakes do not dig or create their own holes or burrows, but may use the burrows of other animals or other cracks and crevices. Hognose snakes, however, are one of the few snakes which do dig their own holes, specifically when ready to create a nest chamber in which to lay their eggs. Look for the distinctive excavated holes and slide or push marks leading into or from the hole in sandy soil habitats!

Not snake holes. Sometimes, one might find numerous, scattered “holes” around their lawn or yard one day, and erroneously attribute them to snakes if they happen to also coincide with snake sightings in and around the yard. Most snakes do not dig their own holes or burrows, and even the few species which do, do not create numerous, scattered holes like these. These holes are made by rodents, or other animals such as skunks or raccoons searching for food.

To learn much more about reptile and amphibian tracks and other signs, also check out: Tracks & Signs of Reptiles & Amphibians: A Gude to North American Species by Filip Tkaczyk:
https://www.amazon.com/Tracks-Sign-Reptiles-Amphibians-American/dp/0811711862