On this week's Good Growing podcast we talk with wildlife biologist Dr. John Vanek all about snakes! Dr. Vanek has a specialty in herpetology and loves to study snakes. In this episode we discuss:

Why are so many humans afraid of snakes? Is it learned behavior or something deeper in our brains?

What snake will people commonly encounter outside in Illinois?

Is it safe to handle any wild snake we find outside?

How common are venomous snakes? What types do we have in Illinois?

How can we tell the difference between a non-venomous and venomous snake?

Snake ID from a listener submitted photo - Can you identify the snake hanging out in this tree?

This person had a cluster of snakes in her tree by a pond. What are they? And why are they clustered up? And will they eat the baby geese?

Are snake populations declining?

How do we discourage snakes in our yard. What do we need to do? Do the repellants work? Mothballs?

What if we want to encourage snakes in our yard. Is there some way we can do that?

Are there any snakes that would help control larger animals like rabbits?

A snake is hanging off of their ceiling fan! First off, how did it get on the fan? And how do we keep snakes out of the house?

What happens when you know there’s a snake in the house, but you can’t find it? How do you flush out a snake?

Check out John's webpage johnpvanek.weebly.com

Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/Y9iso_KVUXc

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Any products mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion of these products.