Snakes — they slither, squeeze and bite, which is more than enough to make the average population steer clear. However, the Herpetology Club seeks out these creatures, both feral and commercial, with passion.
Sean Hanley, a senior in animal science and president of the Herpetology Club, said his love of reptiles began as a child.
“My dad used to do construction … and a lot of animals would get displaced [when they cleared the lots],” he said. “I got my first snake when I was probably three.”
Hanley said the club has expanded from a group of students with a love of reptiles to a venue for community outreach.
Members participate in Agriculture Awareness Week and set up a booth at Reptile and Amphibian Day at the Museum of Natural Science. They also do programs for local elementary schools.
The club has a devout interest in “herping” — or catching reptiles in the wild — according to Hanley. They took a club trip to Florida where they went through the Keys and the Everglades looking for snakes and other reptiles.
Hanley said they caught a few Burmese pythons, a species not native to North America but introduced as an exotic species when owners got tired of caring for them as pets.
The club’s Vice President Zach Barfield said he owns eight snakes, including a venomous copperhead, which is native to N.C.
Barfield, a senior in natural resources, said that while the club members seem to have an affinity for snakes, they are interested in all reptiles and amphibians.
“We caught a four-and-a-half foot green iguana on a trip in 2004,” he said.
He said the club also caught geckos and various other iguanas while in Florida.
Barfield noted that it is important to be cautious, especially when working in unknown territory such as the Everglades. The club has heard tales of black mambas and king cobras, two highly venomous species loose as exotics, in south Florida.
The two techniques members use most often to catch snakes are “road-cruising” — driving around at night to find snakes that have crawled up on the road to get warm-and “tin-flipping” — where a piece of sheet metal is set out in the hope that a snake will crawl under it to get warm.
Henry Nadeau, a sophomore in business management, is a member of the demographic that wants nothing to do with snakes.
“They’re shiny so they look slimy, and they remind me of worms, which are slimy,” he said, noting an instance where he was bitten by a chicken snake in his hen house.
“There was this one time when I was playing Steve Irwin, and I grabbed this snake too low behind the head, and it turned around and bit me,” he said.
Although Nadeau said that he spent a lot of time in the forest as a child, if he encountered a snake he would take costs to avoid it.
Barfield emphasized the club’s focus on changing the public’s mentality about snakes as a whole.
“We try to educate the public. Snakes particularly get a bad rep with Snakes on a Plane and Anaconda,'” he said.
However, Nadeau will not be swayed in his opinion of the ancient reptiles.
“They’re cold, heartless creatures … even people who own snakes will say they have no remorse about biting and killing people,” he said. “Their eyes are dark and soulless.”