Jeb’s Critter Spotlight

The Texas Rat Snake “Bob” 

By Jeb Lapeyrolerie - Camp Kubena Executive Director     

Happy New Year everyone!  I’m back with another critter we love to hate – the Texas Rat Snake.     The rat snake is found all over our state and into Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Their color varies widely and seems to depend on the area in which they are found. They are also excellent climbers.    

 If you have been to camp you have probably seen a rat snake.  We affectionately call them all “Bob.” Who can be scared of a snake named Bob, right? Rat snakes are very important at camp because they eat a lot of pests like rats and mice. Because of them, we don’t have to use as much pesticide to control the rodent population. This is good because the poisons we use can harm other good critters. You could say Bob is a staff member and that killing mice and other rodents is his job.  

Jeb’s Critter Spotlight

The Opossum — A face only a mother could love . . .

By Jeb Lapeyrolerie - Camp Kubena Executive Director 

Hello, Everyone!     

We have such a variety of different critters here at camp, and I’d like to help us all learn a little bit more about some of them - especially ones that have a bad reputation that maybe they don’t deserve.     

Let’s talk about the opossum today. (Most people simply refer to them as a possum.) The opossum is the only marsupial in the United States. A marsupial is an order of mammals that give birth to partially developed babies who then crawl into a pouch, usually on the mother’s belly, to suckle and finish developing. A momma opossum can give birth to up to 20 babies at a time. Once the babies develop enough to leave the pouch you can often see them hitching a ride on their mom’s back. The babies that reach adulthood have a life span of only about two years in the wild. Part of the reason for this is due to their many predators like coyotes, dogs, and bobcats. (FYI a female opossum is a jill, a male is a jack, the babies are joeys, and a group of opossums is a passel.)