Educational Snake Presentation Comes to Brownwood

After helping search for the escaped cobra in Brownwood, wildlife conservationists and educators Sarah Strom-Kieschnick and Jeremy Wilson gave a presentation to help bring a little understanding and awareness of snakes to the area.

Strom-Kieschnick and Wilson, along with Brownwood Police’s Animal Control officer Nick Ferguson and Texas Parks and Wildlife officers, were one of the first to help search the home where a baby cobra which went missing January 13th.

After learning and hearing some of the local citizens’ and neighbors’ fears of the cobra, the nonprofit organization offered to return to educate the public about snakes.  By giving them correct information, Strom-Kieschnick and Wilson said that they hoped they could calm some of the anxiety caused by the cobra incident.

“The pet cobra was a unique situation, but still offered opportunities for the community to learn more about snakes in general since Texas has quite a few venomous ones (snakes in general).”

Wilson reported that the homeowners where the cobra was located have fumigated the home and that most likely killed the cobra; however, if it ventured outside the residence, it could not survive in Texas’ weather.  (see video below)

“Our mission is to help people understand nature and develop a respect for all living things,” said Wilson, the organization’s herpetologist.  “Snakes for us have been a great place to start since there is so much fear and misinformation about them making them very misunderstood.”

The organization feels that they are a voice for the reptiles and have even added a rescue to their nonprofit’s uniqueness.  Being former zoo keepers, they work with the Abilene Zoo to provide additional options for people who call about unwelcomed reptiles in their homes, according to Strom-Kieschnick.

“People are already scared enough of snakes and we try to change that a little bit, into more of a respect, because fear is not a good emotion to have,” said Wilson.

Not only will awareness help people avoid unwanted confrontations with snakes, it also helps lend an understanding of what to do when you see one in the wild explained Wilson.

“They will not chase you down, jump at you, or want to eat you,” said Wilson.  “Snakes hunt for food and realize that humans are not a food source.  If there is confrontation between snake and human, the snake often ends up as the loser.  This is why the snake prefers to remain undetected, avoiding this altercation and its possible death.”

Wilson explained that people do need to be very careful around snakes because they can be very dangerous.  He also noted that all wildlife is dangerous in a lot of respects.

Some of the misunderstood things about snakes are:

Forked tongues are for sensing movement and to direct them.  It is not for drinking or stinging.

They do not always lay eggs, vipers and rattlers give birth to live young, some species have up to 30 and even sometimes up to 40 offspring.

Snakes’ eyes don’t see well, they do see motion very well though.

Heat sensing pits at their nostrils, similar to infrared technology, help snakes to “see in the dark”.

Snakes are basically deaf.  Instead of hearing airborne noises, they pick up on vibrations.

Wilson also stated that many exhibitions such as roundups, give misinformation because these events are more of an entertainment value.  Strom-Kieschnick and Wilson have been educated through studying herpetology and attending symposiums on snakes and other animals.

For more information on For the Love of Nature’s educational talks, various outreach program types and relocation programs, email: fortheloveofnature@ymail.com or visit and like their Facebook page