Kinsey Brock is hunting lizards. In a desert garden at San Diego State University (SDSU), she carries a long stick with a string lasso at one end to try to snare one. Finally, she does. It’s a male.

As winter chills descend, snakes vanish, not due to death or migration, but a vital survival tactic called brumation. These ...

Few actions in nature inspire more fear and fascination than snake bites. And the venomous reptiles have to move fast to sink their fangs into their prey before their victim flinches, which may be as ...