BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN recent times, hitherto unknown animal species are being discovered in St. Kitts. Creatures that one would never have expected to find here – deadly spiders, scorpions, tarantulas, and now snakes!
An individual, during an unexciting normal afternoon at his Halfway Tree home was digging dirt to make cement when he saw what looked like worms and proceeded to ‘mash’ them.
After getting rid of two of the three wormlike creatures, he took the third in his hand to examine it, and realised to his amazement that it was not really a worm.
He then asked his wife do a little research only to find out that this earthworm-looking creature was in fact a snake.
“I does see them all the time and just kill them thinking that is worms they be,” the man told SKNVibes.
Further research revealed what type of snake it was, where they are usually found, what they eat, and the type of behaviour they display.
According to wildlifenorthamerica.com, the Leptotyphlops dulcis, also known as the Texas Blind Snake is a species found in the South Western United States and Northern Mexico. The snake looks like a shiny earthworm. They are pink or brown in colour and have a segmented appearance.
The eyes are two dark spots under the head scales, and the mouth is very small. Adults grow up to 7.9 inches in length. These snakes are often mistaken for earthworms. They spend most of their life buried in loose soil only coming out to feed or when rain floods their habitat. They eat mainly termites and ant larvae.
The website also explains that when handled they squirm around and try to distract the threat by "stabbing" harmlessly with the tip of their tail. They are harmless to humans as their mouths are too small to give a significant bite.
Just last year the Federation’s eyes were opened to the existence of the Black Widow Spider in the twin island, and more recently, the existence of Tarantulas.
Every time a new species is found the same questions linger on the minds of the people of the Federation - “Where did they originate? How did they get here? And are there any more of such creatures on the island?” It makes one want to look more closely at anything that crawls these days!
