Snake Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Serpentine Lives

An hourly guide that follows twenty-four snakes as they find mates, hunt, and survive a changing world.

Does a snake crossing your path trigger delight or dread? The answer is clear for celebrated biologist Marty Crump, who shows us that snakes deserve our respect, admiration, and protection. In her short book Snake Day, each chapter introduces a single snake during a single hour, highlighting twenty-four different species from around the globe.

In the dark morning of a Brazilian forest, we avoid stepping on a jararaca, a nocturnal viper. If she bites, her venom will make our blood pressure--and us--drop. A synthetic version of this venom is now a lifesaving drug, used to treat hypertension and heart failure. Later in the morning, in the Zagros Mountains that trace Iran's northwest border, what appears to be a tiny arachnid wiggles on the ground. When a hungry warbler approaches for a meal, realizes too late that the spider is actually a snake's tail, and an Iranian spider-tailed viper makes a meal of the bird. In the early afternoon, in a pine forest outside Atlanta, Georgia, an eastern hognose snake strikes at us--a bluff--and then rolls over and plays dead. By the end of our snake day, we'll have glimpsed the diversity of this unique group of reptiles, met serpentine friends who frighten and fascinate, and learned how humans can protect these amazing species.

For each hour, celebrated artist Stuart Patience has depicted serpentine scenes in stunning pen-and-ink drawings. Working together to narrate and illustrate these unique moments in time, Crump and Patience have created an engaging read that is a perfect way to spend an hour or two--and a true gift for amateur scientists or anyone who recoils at or relishes the sight of a snake.

Author: Marty Crump
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 07/14/2026
Pages: 184
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 6.20h x 5.00w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780226842943


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/01/2026 pg. 117
Booklist 03/01/2026

About the Author
Marty Crump is an adjunct professor of biology at Utah State and Northern Arizona Universities. She is the author or coauthor of fourteen books, including Frog Day; A Year with Nature; and Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Adder's Fork and Lizard's Leg, all published by the University of Chicago Press. Stuart Patience is a London-based illustrator whose hand-drawn work has appeared in outlets including The Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times, New Scientist, and World Wildlife. He is the illustrator of Mushroom Day.