Kirtland Snake had babies last night.

[Jaden]

Yes I know they are considered endangered in most of their habitat. With that said I'll go on with my tale. I found a few of these guys in my backyard. Being an animal lover I wanted to see what they were. At first I thought they were Copperheads (I just seen the body and I'm not really all that versed on snakes.) but when I finally caught one I seen it had this really red belly. If you haven't seen one you should check out some pictures. Very nice looking snakes. Any way one of the two I caught (Both were together.) looked gravid. Here's why I caught them (I did have a reason other than they were nice looking.). I live in Indianapolis (I know it's not Chicgo or New York but it's a city.) and I didn't really want the babies getting killed crossing the street. I mean it is endangered. So I caught them (I plan to release the parents back into my yard.) and kept them. Well in the last few days one of them had babies. Which was neat. They look almost nothing like the parents. To be honest if I saw one in the yard I would have thought they were worms. Their only 2" at most. Here's the question. What should I do with the babies? Should I release them some where I think they'd be safe? Or should I do as I plan and call DNR today? To be honest I'd like to keep one as a pet. I know that's mean but they are a nice looking snake and well having an endangered animal as a pet would be cool.

 

[Bry]

I know that's mean but they are a nice looking snake and well having an endangered animal as a pet would be cool.

Not to mention that it's probably illegal too, especially if they are native to your state. I would say you should just release them where you think they'd be safe, but don't take them so far away that they can't find the things that were readily accessible to them: food/water/shelter. Also, some areas have laws against touching endangered species, even if it is to save them from being run over.

 

[Anthony]

You could have legal complications, I would feed, photo and release.

 

[Jaden]

Oh I was going to release them. A fellow can wish can't he? Yeah keeping them could cause me allot of grief. Not sure how much but I know some blind cave fish that's native to here would cost you 10 years in jail and $1,000,000 fine. So I'd be willing to bet they carry a load of fines and jail time. I don't think it's illegal to make sure their O.K. as long as while doing so doesn't kill them. I plan to call DNR any way just to let them know. For sighting info and such. Still wouldn't mind keeping one.

 

[Bry]

You could have legal complications, I would feed, photo and release.

Why feed them? Wild snakes are perfectly capable of finding and catching food on their own.

Oh I was going to release them. A fellow can wish can't he? Yeah keeping them could cause me allot of grief. Not sure how much but I know some blind cave fish that's native to here would cost you 10 years in jail and $1,000,000 fine. So I'd be willing to bet they carry a load of fines and jail time. I don't think it's illegal to make sure their O.K. as long as while doing so doesn't kill them. I plan to call DNR any way just to let them know. For sighting info and such. Still wouldn't mind keeping one.

While your intentions are good, you'd be surprised what kind of laws they impose on endangered/protected animals, even if the laws don't always seem to help the animals. For instance, gopher tortoises (protected) and eastern indigo snakes (endangered) are both protected under Georgia and Florida law. Touching them is illegal, even if you were to help one get out of the path of an oncoming car, and can bring on some hefty fines and potentially jail time. Law enforcement doesn't play at all. The important thing is to get yourself acquainted with your local laws regarding native species.