Meet Eros, the Eastern Milk Snake!

Today’s post comes from Abby King, and she writes about her favorite resident animal here at Fenner – Eros, our eastern milk snake.

The Visitor Center at Fenner Nature Center is home to a variety of animals, including a family of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, an eastern milk snake, an eastern tiger salamander, some green frog tadpoles, a praying mantis, two eastern box turtles, an eastern American toad, and a common snapping turtle.

I am in the process of revamping the enclosures for each species and have gotten to know each individual animal better as a result of transferring them in and out of their renovated homes. While I like the little cat-like alien-face of the mantis, the solemn stare of the toad, and the charm of the box turtles, I’d say that my favorite so far is the eastern milk snake.

Eros, so named after the Greek god of love because he has a small heart-shaped spot on the back of his head, has so much more personality than I ever thought a snake capable of. When I was around nine or ten I kept two garter snakes as pets over one summer, keeping them alive on small toads and worms. Nickel and Dime, as I named them, both became quite tame and would wind themselves around my fingers. However, neither of them had as much character as Eros does. He is constantly on the move within his newly remodeled vivarium, sliding through the grass (he was thrilled with this particular addition to his home), drinking from his water bowl (I’d never seen a snake actually drink before), and even lifting himself up to the top of the enclosure and squeezing between the rim and lid, until he falls to the ground with a louder thump than I’d imagine his small body capable of. When I pick him up, he wraps himself securely around my hands and wrists, ready and willing to be transported to wherever I may take him.

Eros is the only eastern milk snake I have ever seen, even though they are common in Michigan. They are found in a variety of habitats, including woods, farmland, meadows, and suburbs. I tried to make Eros a home that would, to an extent, combine all of these habitats into one. Eastern milk snakes are sometimes mistaken for the scarlet snake and copperhead, which do not live in Michigan, and the fox snake and Massassauga rattlesnake, which are both native species here. However, I find that they bear only a passing resemblance at best to any of these other species. Eastern milk snakes can live up to 20 years, meaning that Eros will be entertaining us for a long time yet.