- Whoa!
Geez, a huge Watersnake!
- [Will] Oh, they got a green over there.
They got a green! - What?
- [Will] They got a green over there.
- Oh man, ow!
(snake striking) Oh, geez.
That is one angry Black Racer.
Wow!
What?
(SFX rocks crumbling)
Today we're headed out on a snake scavenger hunt.
I'll be working alongside my friend
and wildlife biologist, Will Robertson.
Say hi, Will.
- Hi, Will.
- This region is known for its plethora of species.
We're gonna be scouring the fields, searching the forests,
flipping rocks, and rolling logs, doing whatever it takes
to find some of these cool reptiles.
Will, are you ready?
Let's find some snakes.
(Coyote grunting)
(tense music)
(Coyote sneezing)
(Coyote sniffles) Ugh, pollen.
(mystery music)
Oh, a snake.
I think it was a Gartersnake.
He went down into this little hole right here.
Oh, yep, there he is, his little face.
He's right there.
See if I can tickle him out.
There he is.
Gotcha.
Whoa, there we go.
All right, let's take a look at this one.
So that is the Eastern Gartersnake.
One of the coolest things and most people don't realize it
about Gartersnakes is that they are mildly venomous.
Now I doubt if they could ever hurt a human
but for the most part, these are super calm,
super docile snakes.
You can see that little defense mechanism right there,
totally flattening out the body
and almost making the head look as if it's V-shaped,
which, of course, would be indicative of a venomous snake.
But as we know, the Gartersnake is completely harmless.
(mystery music)
This is cool, it's like a river of moss.
Look at that.
Now normally, we'd probably have water flowing down
through this spillway and towards this lake
that we're getting toward.
But it's just a really unique looking habitat,
almost like "Lord of the Rings".
And it seems as if the lake might pay off
because Will just said he's got a big Watersnake basking.
Oh yeah, that's a nice one.
- These guys are non-venomous, but the do bite quite a bit.
So we'll see what this guy does.
- [Coyote] All right, Will's got the Watersnake.
Oh, yeah, a beautiful one.
And definitely a species
that people oftentimes think is venomous,
but completely harmless.
The Northern Watersnake.
That's another one for the list, Will.
- Yeah, there we go.
- [Coyote] Looking good.
- [Will] Oop, Coyote, sanitize real quick.
- Don't wanna spread those snake fungal diseases.
- Oh, Red-Bellied snake.
- [Coyote] Red-Bellied snake.
Pretty basic looking snake except for the fact
that it has a pretty vibrant, red belly.
- Let's flip it.
Oh, look a little bold vole.
Look, he's a little tunnel.
Hey, buddy.
- Got an interesting little precarious scenario here.
There is a rock ledge that a black racer's up on.
I think I'm gonna drop myself down into this little hole.
Might be able to come around the edge and get it.
I see it,
but it does not see me.
It's right there.
I'm gonna be right on the edge of this cliff.
(tense music)
Got it!
Getting it under control's gonna be a whole 'nother story.
And these snakes are really bitey.
(snake striking) Oh, geez.
(snake striking) That is one, angry,
black racer.
Will, got a Black Racer
for the snake scavenger hunt.
(Coyote grunts)
See if we can do this without taking a bite.
There we go.
Okay, focus is on the camera at the moment.
And there we have it, another species
for the snake scavenger hunt.
All right Marty, I'm gonna bring it up
for the tight shot.
That is the Black Racer.
Looks like it's getting ready to shed its skin.
You can tell that from the cloudiness in the eyes.
And the thing that I love most about this species is
its agility and its speed, not to mention the coloration is
very similar to the Black Mamba.
But of course, this is a non-venomous species,
so a bite is gonna be nothing more
than a little soap and water to clean up.
All right, watch how fast this snake is
when I let it back into the environment.
Or not.
That's kinda cool just to get it in that display mode.
I thought you were just gonna speed off,
but instead, you're giving us some incredible B-roll.
Nothin' wrong with that.
- Ooh, look at that, big Ring-Necked snake.
That's a nice orange belly.
So these guys spend most of their time underground
looking for things like salamanders to eat.
They're very tame snakes, they never bite.
You can see they have tiny, tiny little heads
with a prominent yellow ring right around the neck.
Double-flip.
No.
Right here?
Nope.
- Guess who found a Hognose snake?
Right here, Will.
Oh, it's on the move.
I got it!
I got it, I got it, I got it.
- [Will] I'll grab him up here.
- [Coyote] Okay.
- Whoa. - [Coyote] Wow.
- A Hognose snake for the scavenger hunt.
This is a difficult one to find
and look at that pointed nose right there.
Ooh.
- [Marty] Uh-oh.
- [Coyote] Uh-oh.
You know what happens when they poop, right?
- [Will] Yeah, these guys are known for playing dead.
- [Coyote] Oh my gosh, the smell is unbearable.
- Wow.
- [Coyote] Dude, you are covered in poop.
- I'll have to wipe that off.
- [Coyote] Oh my gosh.
- Ugh.
- Hands.
(jaunty music)
(spray pump squirting)
When lifting rocks...
(Coyote coughs)
Swallowed a bug.
(jaunty music)
(Coyote clears throat)
(Coyote coughs)
I was gonna try to tell you about rockin' a kit.
Back to one.
(jaunty music)
When lifting rocks, it's important
to have good rock etiquette,
which means you lift a rock gently
and you place it right back exactly where you found it.
(upbeat music)
- [Will] Ants, whoa.
- Do they bite or sting?
Let's find out.
They don't really do anything.
They run away.
Not a sting episode.
Will just called out to me that he found
an abandoned car that I need to check out.
I don't know what an abandoned car would be doing
out here on the side of this mountain.
Like, how did he even end up here?
Wow, that is.
What?
- I would not be surprised if Rattlesnakes were using
this old, rusted car.
That's really interesting.
- [Coyote] I mean, how did this get here?
- [Will] They must've rolled it
down the hill and crashed it.
- [Coyote] I'd be really creepy if we found a body in it.
- Not that I can see, just some Busch Lite.
Don't drink and drive.
- [Coyote] Yeah, that's a good message.
- Let's see if we can lift this hood.
- [Coyote] We need to give her a flip-a-roo.
(metal creaking)
I don't see any Rattlesnakes.
Worth a check though.
Oh, this tire.
- [Will] Does it spin?
- [Coyote] No. - [Will] It's stuck in place.
- [Coyote] Creepy.
- [Will] There's a Ratsnake on top!
- [Coyote] Oh my gosh, there is.
Oh, my goodness!
In the abandoned car!
- A new species. (Coyote laughing)
- [Coyote] A new one?
All right what do you need me to do?
I might try to, I might be able to...
Here, here, here, let me get.
It's tangled in the windshield.
Yeah, yeah, I seem him, I see him.
There we go.
- Whoa, a new species.
- [Coyote] Careful, careful.
- I'm slipping. - [Coyote] Yes!
How about that?
All right, Will, what do we got?
- We've got a Black Ratsnake
and this is actually a small one.
Despite being a pretty decent sized snake,
these guys are the largest snakes around here.
They can get almost eight feet long.
The eat birds and they climb right up trees
to nab squirrels.
This is guy's in shed, so his eyes are pretty blue.
- [Coyote] Unbelievable.
- [Will] Awesome.
- [Coyote] What would you say is the holy grail
of snake species in this area?
- I would say the Greensnake.
They're bright, bright green.
They look like nothing else from around here.
They're super tropical looking.
You'd never believe that they're right here
in the Appalachians.
- When it comes to Gartersnakes, we found the mother lode.
A whole pile of sunning snakies right there.
These rocks are alive with snakes.
This is perfect conditions at the moment
to find a number...
Whoa!
Geez, a huge Watersnake.
Really, really big Northern Watersnake.
All right, here, let's...
Yeah, I'm gonna need at least you to hold the camera.
- [Will] Okay.
- Wow, that's a big one.
Hopefully, it does not decide to give me a chomp
'cause this is good sized.
Wow.
- [Will] Oh, they've got a green over there.
They got a green! - What?
- [Will] They got a green over there.
- Oh man, ow!
- [Will] Okay, we're comin', we're comin'.
Oh, beautiful. - [Coyote] Ooh!
Amazing.
- [Will] And that's one of the rare ones for around here.
- I was walking and sure enough, just saw a little movement
and reached out and got the little Greensnake.
- Amazing, that is the holy grail.
Wow, okay.
Well, all in one two-minute clip, huge Northern Watersnake
and a Smooth Greensnake.
Here, let me give you this.
All right, let me see this guy.
Oh my goodness.
The Smooth Greensnake.
That is the ultimate right there.
Look at that.
Big snake, little snake.
Cute snake, seemingly dangerous snake,
but both completely harmless.
- [Will] No way!
Marty, you just got another Greensnake.
How big is this one?
Oh my gosh.
- And it's even tinier.
- [Will] Oh my goodness.
- Look at that little guy.
- [Will] Wow.
- [Coyote] Oh, that is a gorgeous little Greensnake.
Will, we did it, two, beautiful Smooth Greensnakes.
Now what's your favorite thing about this reptile?
- It's gotta be the vibrance, hands-down.
I mean, it's a bright Greensnake.
It looks like it came from the jungle,
but here we are in the Appalachians and we've got it.
- So this is one of my favorite snake species as a kid.
I used to always see them in my backyard
but they're becoming more and more scarce.
And what is the reason for that?
- Well, you know, along with habitat destruction,
when people spray pesticides on their lawn,
these guys eat insects.
So if they eat insects that have pesticides on them,
well, you know what happens.
- It's gonna wipe out the snakes.
So less pesticides means more Smooth Greensnakes.
Will, an enormous thanks to you for taking us out today
in some of your favorite herping spots.
This was the ultimate snake scavenger hunt.
Make sure to check out Will's YouTube Channel,
lots of awesome videos there.
And until we collaborate on the next one,
I'm Coyote Peterson.
- I'm Will Robertson.
- Be brave.
- [Will] Stay wild.
- [Coyote] We'll see ya on the next adventure.
All right, Smooth Greensnakes, back into the grass.
(coyote howling)