Louisiana Drivers Approach Snakes With Tread

HAMMOND, La. — A snake is a goner the minute a Louisiana driver spots it trying to slither across a highway, says a biology professor who studied “intentional kill behavior” using a rubber snake and a fake turtle.

David Shepherd and his students at Southeastern Louisiana University observed 22,000 incidents involving motorists and the imitation reptiles over three years. In a paper prepared for delivery today to the Louisiana Academy of Science, Shepherd documents his findings.

A policeman swerved off the road to run over the rubber snake, stopped, backed up, ran over the snake again, got out of his car and drew his revolver before Shepherd stepped out to tell him it was a fake.

Another man ran over the snake, backed up until his rear tire was atop the snake’s head, then peeled rubber down the highway.

Some Risk Wrecks

There were 11 such “multiple kill” incidents, Shepherd said, and several cases in which drivers risked wrecks to get the snake.

However, he said, a turtle gets a sporting chance.

About three times as many motorists will go out of their way to kill a snake as will swerve to run over a turtle, Shepherd said. And there were no cases of “multiple kills” involving the turtle, he said.

There were also instances in which motorists stopped to help the turtle cross the road, he said. A woman near Madisonville tried to flag a truck away from the turtle, and a man near Hammond moved it to safety at the side of the road.