The Rev. Stuart Jones is associate pastor and minister of youth at Fernwood Baptist Church. He has 25 snakes, including Majesty; a hedgehog, Marshmallow; and two dogs, Fen and Daisy.

The Rev. Stuart Jones is associate pastor and minister of youth at Fernwood Baptist Church. He has 25 snakes, including Majesty (pictured below); a hedgehog, Marshmallow, (pictured at bottom); and two dogs, Fen and Daisy.

How did you start collecting snakes?
“Since I was 5 or 6 years old, I’ve had snakes. I grew up in Carlisle, in Union County, and we would go outside and play in the woods and they were always fascinating to me. At that time, I had box turtles and lizards, too. My parents just learned to live with it. Growing up, I would have three or four snakes, but I would always release them before winter so they could hibernate. From there, it sort of grew into a hobby and all my life, I’ve had snakes. The most I’ve had at one time was 50, now I have about 25.”

Where do you find your snakes?
“It depends. Right now, I have about 12 different species. The only ones I keep here at the house are not venomous. There are about 64 species of snakes found in the Southeast and mostly, I use them for educational programs. I speak at conservation groups, Boy Scouts, churches call me and I’ve done programs with John Green at the Science Center. There are some snakes that can’t be kept in captivity. I buy some at pet shops, or find while hiking, but I try not to take them out of wilderness areas. There’s one snake, an Eastern King snake, that had a terrible eye infection. We were able to treat it with antibiotics, and now it’s fully recovered.”

Have you ever been bitten by your snakes?
“I’ve never been bitten by a venomous snake, but I use hooks and am very careful.”

What are some common misconceptions about snakes?
“Typically, when I speak to groups, people think we should kill snakes, get rid of them. But, I try to talk about the benefits. For example, black rat snakes do well in captivity and are good for eating mice and other rodents, which carry diseases. Snakes also play an important role in the environment. They’re a good barometer of the ecosystem. I walk a lot on the Cottonwood Trail and if there aren’t a lot of snakes on the trail, it could indicate the creek is very polluted. They also save farmers millions each year by ridding farms of rodents.”

What do you feed the snakes?
“It depends on the species. Some eat rats, which you can buy frozen at pet stores. Some eat toads, and earthworms. Smaller snakes eat insects and slugs. We stop feeding them in October and they hibernate. Depending on how warm it gets, we usually start feeding them again in April.”

What snake have you had the longest?
“Majesty, this Arizona king snake, is 15 or 16 years old. We don’t typically name the snakes, but my son named him. He’s been with us for a while. We also have a black rat snake named Black Beauty.”