FeaturesAugust 1, 2017
Jordyn Richmond and Anna Mae Zembsch handle snakes and misconceptions about the species
Jordyn Richmond and Anna Mae Zembsch both note the obvious characteristics of snakes that set them apart: no arms, no legs. In turn, snakes may have their own unique observations about the two Cape Girardeau Central High School graduates that differentiates them from most others out "herping": They're women...
Jordyn Richmond and Anna Mae Zembsch both note the obvious characteristics of snakes that set them apart: no arms, no legs.
In turn, snakes may have their own unique observations about the two Cape Girardeau Central High School graduates that differentiates them from most others out "herping": They're women.
"Herping" involves exploring wildlife areas in the quest of finding amphibians or reptiles, and these two are passionate about it.
Richmond readily admits to having a soft spot.
"I'm pretty biased," Richmond says. "I'm more a reptile person. I keep snakes on my own, too."
She has two rosy boas at home, the remnants of a forced downsizing from a snake collection that recently numbered nine.
She says "Chili" and "Jalapeño" both are under 2 1/2 feet in length.
"They're cute, little, small things," she says, then pausing and laughing at the reaction to her words. "You don't hear that adjective too much in the same sentence with snake. To me, they're pretty adorable, but I know that's a weird thing to say."
Zembsch, who works at Deer Ridge Animal Hospital in Jackson, embraces animals of all sorts, noting, "I even let nice spiders stay in my home to kill fruit flies."
She does find snakes particularly intriguing. The former owner of an 8-foot red-tailed boa -- "William Snakespeare" -- enjoys photographing snakes in the wild.
The two 2011 Central graduates have pursued their snake adventures separately in the wild, but have a common experience in having Mark Hahn as their ecology teacher their sophomore years.
As Richmond says, "That just kind of catapulted me into the snake world."
Not that she didn't already have an interest in snakes before taking the class.
"When I was younger, my dad would catch some and let me play with them," Richmond says. "It totally dissolved the fear of snakes."
Richmond recalls documenting 30-minute expeditions into nature for her class, and being so captivated she began taking photographs. Extra credit was awarded for bringing creatures like nonvenomous snakes or turtles to class, later releasing them in the exact spot where they were found.
"He was a great teacher," Richmond says. "He always had snakes crawling out of his pockets during class time. It was crazy."
Zembsch also finds much of her passion traced back to Hahn's class.
"He was amazing," Zembsch says. "He really encouraged us and taught us and inspired us so much. I think that's where [Jordyn] and I really started to go out into the wild and look for them instead of just having them as pets."
Zembsch is a frequent visitor to Snake Road in Southern Illinois, a mecca for professional and amateur herpetologists in search of slithering members of the class Reptilia. There she can find a spectrum of species also native to Missouri, including all three venomous snakes -- timber rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and copperheads.
"I hike up in the bluff area because that's where you're going to find a lot of your venomous snakes," Zembsch says. "I don't handle them, but I enjoy photographing them and being around them. I don't mess with them or try to intimidate them."
She's met other herpers from as far away as Arizona and Minnesota along the 3-mile stretch of road in the La Rue Conservation Area, located about 25 minutes from Cape Girardeau. The snakes are so plentiful that the road is closed for about a month in both the spring and fall to protect them from traffic.
"There was a day [this spring] I was out there where there were, like, 50 people out there, and I was so happy," Zembsch says. "I've never seen 20 people together to look for snakes, so that was pretty cool."
One of her frequent herping partners is her mom.
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"That's what she actually wanted for Mother's Day," Zembsch says. "'Will you take me herping?'" I was, like, 'Yeah,' so we went out to Oriole [Creek] and I caught about five or six snakes."
Richmond also has visited Snake Road, but is tight-lipped about the spots she frequents in Missouri, for the snakes' sake, aware not everyone else shares her affinity.
"I consider myself really lucky," Richmond says. "If I'm just walking through the woods or swampland around here in Missouri, or even a farmer's field, I'll find something most of the time."
She realizes the perception of snakes and her gender are a strange mix for many. She hears the surprise.
"Oh, yeah, especially people who don't like snakes, when they learn that I like them, I photograph them, I keep them, I hold them, I educate people about them, they're a little taken back, but not for long," Richmond says. "They realize it's a very normal part of my life. But when I'm out in the field with other herpers, I'm usually the only [female] out there most the time, but I don't really care. Lately there's been more ladies, and a lot of them bring their kids. It can be a whole family ordeal."
Both women are strong advocates for snakes, seen by many as a menace and a demonic bearer of evil since the Biblical genesis of man. They look to educate a mentality that abides by the adage, "The only good snake is a dead snake," one they find grounded in fear and ignorance.
"They were raised to believe to be afraid of a creature that is harmless if you don't touch it or mess with it," Zembsch says.
As a child, Zembsch said her parents taught her all animals play important roles in nature. She notes how snakes control populations, eating rodents, ticks, which sometimes carry Lyme Disease, and even other snakes.
"Black rat snakes will eat a timber rattlesnake for instance, which blows my mind, so really Jordyn and I will try to do a lot of social media to get people to understand the importance of them and how to handle it better than just kill one," Zembsch says.
Both women will post photos from their exploits on Facebook or other platforms. Zembsch recently posted a picture of herself being bitten by a nonvenomous snake, just to prove a point that it involves minimal discomfort.
"Really, if you don't mess with them, you're not going to get bit," Zembsch says. "I get bit because I go out and catch them and pick them up. I just like observing them."
Zembsch worked at Petco before working at Deer Creek and says she has endured her share of bites over the years.
"What I love telling people, and this is so true, 'It hurts way worse to get bit by a hamster than it does a snake,'" says Zembsch, noting most snake bites are virtually bloodless.
Zembsch said people's uncertainty about whether a snake is venomous plays into much of their fear. She can post a picture of herself holding a northern water snake online only to get a response that she's doing some daredevil act of holding a water moccasin, which she says looks similar.
"If you actually learn the differences between them, it's actually really easy to spot venomous and nonvenomous," Zembsch says.
Richmond, who graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in December with a degree in environmental science and plans to attend Missouri S&T in the fall to begin work on a master's degree in environmental engineering, says part of her attraction to snakes was to explore the fear about an animal with no appendages. She ultimately became a volunteer at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center, where she worked with the snakes and helped educate the public.
"I found out a little more about them than I already knew, and they're actually really cool creatures," Richmond says. "They do a lot of things that are weird to humans. They're so different from us, yet we're connected in different ways. They try to defend themselves when you're trying to kill them just like we would, and they need to eat and drink water."
She touched on snake diversity around the world, citing colors, patterns, sizes and shapes, but arrived at one unique feature to the species.
"I think it's the fact that they completely renew themselves and shed their skin," Richmond says. "It's crazy. They go from looking like crap to just beautiful, shining animals."
She also admires their survival mentality, enduring harsh weather, predators and humans.
She and Zembsch both like to take along the latter on trips in a quest for understanding.
"I encourage people who are afraid of snakes to come with me," Zembsch says. "I'm not going to make anyone hold one, but to just see them in their natural habitat to show them that they will not chase after you. They won't. That's not something that happens."
The chasing is Richmond and Zembsch's job.
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