Should Kentucky Have a State Reptile?

You may recall I talked about New Jersey naming the bog turtle as its new official state reptile. I got to thinking whether Kentucky had one, a state reptile or not, we don't. But should we?

The first reptile that jumped to my mind was the copperhead snake; it's scary and it blends in well with autumn leaves. That has nothing to do with why we should name it our state reptile, I'm just stating what I know. I still swear there was one embedded in one of the shrubs at my parents' house several summers ago. I saw those distinctive stripes slither over a branch.

Some of the most common reptiles in Kentucky are snakes. We have two kinds of rattlesnakes and the cottonmouth. There are few common lizards found here, most of them are skinks (??) Second to snakes are turtles. We have snapping turtles, Easter box turtles, and many more.

Indiana doesn't have a state reptile either. Illinois named the painted turtle as its official state reptile in 2005.