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. Sponsor a child with a local organization at
HopeAfricaKids.com
This ad sponsored by The Nugget Newspaper.