There are not many places in the world that haven’t been colonised by snakes and other reptiles. Snakes are even to be found in towns, although it is only the friendlier ones that tend to survive our wrath. However, if you want to find some of the more uncommon snakes, you could look in parks and fields, on beaches or in rivers and ponds and even in the sea, depending on where you live, of course as sea snakes are inclined to inhabit warmer, tropical waters.
You will need to be very alert and train your eyes to spot even the smallest movement. Wear clothes of dull, drab colours and move very slowly, stopping often to listen out for movement in the grass or bushes. In the beginning, you will have many false hopes, until you learn to tell the difference between the sounds of the various animals that live or hunt in the grass.
Snakes are difficult to find, because most of the adventurous snakes get killed by frightened (and often ignorant) humans, but a good tip is to look for relatively damp areas in arid regions and, conversely, dry spots in damp areas. Look for where their prey might congregate. For example, near water for toads and frogs. Look out for frightened lizards or birds fleeing for all they are worth. And listen out for geckos warning each other of the presence of a predator.
If you need to move anything, at least don’t damage it and furthermore, ensure you put it back as you found it. Two useful tools while out looking for snakes and other reptiles are binoculars (for tree snakes) and a snake-hook, which should also be used for moving bits of debris so that you don’t risk getting bitten by a snake or stung by a scorpion. A camera, a torch and a notebook and pen are quite, depending on how seriously you treat your interest in herpetology.
You could also take a rule or tape to measure your specimens and a few plastic bags and boxes to hold them while you are doing it. However, do not harm anything and do not take anything away with you either! Apart from it not being right to wander into their domain and cause mayhem, it is frequently against the law too. Be very wary of picking up any snake that you cannot definitely identify as non-poisonous. You could be miles from anywhere and will probably not have any anti-venom with you. Since many snakes can kill within 30 minutes, you would almost certainly die.
To summarize, go looking for snakes by all means. However, take it easy and slowly and wear camouflaged clothing. Moreover, wear strong, climbing boots to give you some protection where you are most vulnerable and do not move anything unnecessarily. Use a snake-hook to move things if you have to; a tape, torch, camera, notebook and pen to record your experience and/or findings and a couple of clear plastic receptacles just in case you feel that you have to pick something up.
I hope you really enjoy your search for snakes and other reptiles, but always remember that snakes are not friendly and they are definitely not pets, so be wary of snake bites especially if your search is not taking place in the gardens of a hospital!
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