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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2016)
30 Wednesday,May18,2016The Nugget Newspaper,Sisters,Oregon Tales from a Sisters Naturalist by Jim Anderson Teeing off with a rubber boa EricHuffmanwasoutfor his weekly game of golf at Aspen Lakes when one of Oregon’s most mysterious snakesshowedup. Huffmanwasallexcited whenheexclaimedoverthe phone,“Hi,Jim,you’llnever guesswhatwasrightunder myfeetwhileIwasoutfor my morning golf today at AspenLakes!” I have given up guess- ingaboutwhatmywonder- fulcallersareabouttoshare withme,becauseit’salways asurpriseforbothofus. “I think it was a rubber boa!” Eric exclaimed, not givingmeachancetoguess. Seeing a rubber boa in Sisters Country isn’t a sur- prise — but seeing it in broaddaylight,onthegreen ofthe9thholecertainlywas. However,thatsaid,ifthere’s anolddownandrottingpine orjunipernottoofaraway, therecouldbeawholefam- ilyofrubberboaslivingthe lifeofRileynearby. The native, not-so-com- monly seen, rubber boa, Charina botae, is a non- venomous (can’t hurt you) snake.Infact,itisprobably the most non-threatening snake of all the 15 species of snakes inhabiting our beautifulstateofOregon.It couldn’tbiteyouifitwanted to. Therangeofrubberboas inOregonisjustaboutany- where there’s wet and rot- tingvegetation,earthworms, baby mice, a few juvenile salamanders and/or subter- ranean insect grubs, which theydineupon. Way back in the mid- 1960s,whiletakingagroup ofOMSIstudentsonafield trip into Eastern Oregon, I placed several four-foot- squarepiecesofoldcarpet- ing around the high des- ert to see who would hide under them. On the next trip with the students, we found rubber boas hid- ingoutwithgophersnakes and rattlesnakes, and rac- ersunderthecarpetingway in the back of an old mud volcano. AlSt.John—Oregon’s renownedherpetologist,nat- uralist,scientist,andauthor of several excellent field guidestoournativereptiles andamphibians—saysthe rubber boas are a remnant populationfromwhenthere wasagreatinlandseainthe FortRockbasin,createdby FURRY FRIEND S 501 ( c )( 3 ) FOUNDATION FurryFriendsFoundation.org Furry Friends Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization thelastglaciersthatcovered the surrounding hills some 10,000yearsago. My introduction to the gentle,mostnorthernmem- ber of the boa family was when I went to work for OMSIintheearly’60s.Ican stillseethatsweetlittlefirst- graderrunninguptome,all excited about her discov- ery. “Look, Mr.Anderson! I found this snake without a head — but it’s got two tails!” W h i c h j u s t a b o u t describeswhatyoufirstsee of a rubber boa. Its eyes are tiny, and unlike other snakes, it rarely sticks its tongueoutatyou.Oneofthe mostidentifiablecharacter- isticsofrubberboasistheir shortblunttailsthatclosely resembletheshapeoftheir head(orvisa-versa). Rubber boas are one of the smaller boa species, adultscanbeanywherefrom 15 to 30 inches in length, withlightbrownaboveand a bright yellowish-orange underside.Whenprotecting themselvesfromimmediate danger, they often coil up andplacetheirblunttailout of the coil … like it was a headinstead. The common name is derived from their loose, wrinkled skin consisting of small smooth and shiny scales, giving the snake a rubber-likelookandtexture. Their eyes have vertically ellipticalpupilsintheirshort bluntheadsthatarenowider thanthebody. photo by ERIC hUFFMAN A rubber boa that citizen-scientist Eric Huffman discovered at Aspen Lakes Golf Course. In addition to most of Oregon and Aspen Lakes Golf Course, distribution of rubber boas covers a large portion of the west- ern USA, stretching from the Pacific Coast east to westernUtahandMontana, south to San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains eastofLosAngeles,andas farnorthassouthernBritish Columbia. They’ve been found at elevations anywhere from sealeveltoover10,000feet. Characteristicsofrubber boas’behavioralsosetthem apart from other snakes. Theyareconsideredoneof the most docile of the boa speciesandareoftenusedto helppeopleovercometheir fearofsnakes. Rubberboasneverstrike atorbiteahumanunderany circumstances — but, like thecommongartersnake(s) —theywillreleaseapotent musk from their anal vent (which is enough to gag a maggot)iftheyfeelthreat- ened.Theyarealsoprimar- ily nocturnal, which par- tially contributes to how rarelytheyareencountered, and they hibernate during thewintermonthsinunder- grounddens. These innocuous lit- tle snakes have also been known to feast on eggs of other snakes, lizards and ground-nesting birds. But he who lives by the sword… Rubber boas are preyeduponbyalmostany reasonably sized preda- tor in their habitat.A hun- gry badger or great horned owl wouldn’t turn one down. Eric’s experience at Aspen Lake Golf Course would seem to be a very luckysighting.Igivegreat thankstoEricandthosepeo- plewhooccupytheroleof citizenscientistsandreport theirobservations. Well-Crafted Homes & Immensely Satisfi ed Customers. Year-round FIREWOOD SALES — Kindling — — — SISTERS FOREST PRODUCTS D ESIGNERS & B UILDERS of D ISTINCTION 541-410-4509 www.laredoconstruction.com 541-549-1575 Since 1994 CCB#194489 SistersForestProducts.com Hope for a child. Change for a nation. There are a million perfectly understandable reasons not to help. Thankfully, love trumps them all. $37 a month. All the difference in the world. 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