When the lights come on in the morning on the artificial den, the snakes begin what I call their morning dance. They will also periscope at the door or to get a better look at something, but rarely will more than one snake be periscoping at once, and the majority of their periscoping involves only a few inches of their body. In the wild, males will adopt this vertical posture in wrestling matches. The “morning dance” on the den, however seems to be a result of the artificial environment. In the wild, standing up doesn’t get them much closer to the sun, but in the den, they can warm up much faster by getting a few inches closer to the heat lamps. Although it’s always dangerous to make assumptions about what a snake is thinking, in this case, I think it’s an obvious conclusion. In any case, it’s very cool to watch them stretching up as high as they can. And look at Bruce in the back of the den! Despite being older than most of the others, he still has those taut abs and the strength to hold most of his long body vertical. Way to go, Bruce!!
Changing Fear to Fascination