Our American Reptile

Happy July 4th, for all of you out there!  It's a great day to celebrate the United States, which of course includes our two iconic national animals.  The bald eagle has been our national bird since the founding of our country.  While it has been an American emblem for almost as long, the American bison didn't have its status made official as our national mammal until quite recently.

Why should we stop there, though?

Why isn't there a national reptile?

No, seriously.  A little over half of the US states have an official state reptile - heck, Florida has three (a state tortoise, a state marine reptile, and the alligator because, well, Florida).  Almost as many states (as well as Puerto Rico) have official state amphibians.  Three states have state crustaceans (all selected for their iconic edibility - Louisiana has the crayfish, Maryland has the blue crab, and Oregon has the Dungeness crab).  Every state has a fish, and almost every state has an insect.  So why not a reptile to represent the US on the national level?

If we were to choose one, the logical first choose would be the timber rattlesnake.  It's perhaps best known for its symbolic role during the American Revolution, warning the British "Don't Tread On Me" and used by Benjamin Franklin as a metaphor for a peaceable county being willing to defend itself.  The timber rattlesnake was found throughout the thirteen original colonies, and while its fortunes have declined in recent years, it's still holding on vigorously.  In that, it has something in common with the eagle and the bison.  The timber rattlesnake is currently the state reptile of West Virginia.

Or, if not the timber rattlesnake, what about the American alligator?  It's an American endemic, found only within the borders of this country.  Like the eagle, its story is one of resilience, bouncing back from the edge of extinction.  It's also a nurturing parent, a keystone species which improves its environment and allows other species to flourish through its landscape engineering, and is still a big, scary predator.

The plucky, pugnacious snapping turtle?  The ubiquitous black rat snake?  The formidable little horned lizard?  We have lots of options!

It may seem like a silly thing, but making an animal a symbol has value.  It brings it to the forefront of our consciousness and helps inspire us to protect them or take pride in them.  Pandas were puttering along to extinction... then the World Wildlife Fund came along and made them literally the face of the movement to save endangered species.  Now, they are on the rebound.

I don't expect anyone in any real decision making capacity to be pushing for a national reptile any time soon... and if they did, people would probably just complain that we have more important things to worry about.  Granted, we do... but since no one seems to be in a rush to do anything about any of those things, we might as well take twenty minutes and pick a lizard or snake.