DAILY PRESS (Hampton Roads, Virginia) 22 December 06 Rare snake seen near site for IW cell tower - In Virginia, canebrake rattlers can be found in only a few cities and counties. (Veronica Gorley Chufo)
Isle Of Wight: Watch out for snakes.
The canebrake rattlesnake, a venomous snake on the state's endangered species list, has been spotted within 11/4 miles of a proposed Cingular Wireless communications tower just west of Smithfield.
A state biologist's advice to Cingular?
"If they see a snake, stop what they're doing, certainly don't kill it and call us," said Andy Zadnik, a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries environmental services biologist. "We'll safely relocate it outside the project area."
The Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors voted Thursday to approve Cingular's plans to build the 199-foot-tall tower there and another north of Windsor. Other wireless communications providers might install equipment on the towers to improve their services, according to Cingular's application.
Canebrake rattlesnakes, native to Virginia, can be found as far south as northern Florida and as far west as Texas. In Virginia, they can be found in only a few southeastern cities and counties. Most of them live in and around the Great Dismal Swamp, and another cluster lives in Hampton's Sandy Bottom Nature Park.
A few sightings have been documented in Isle of Wight and York counties and in South Hampton Roads cities, Zadnik said.
The species is endangered because development is encroaching on its habitat - typically hardwood forests and swampy areas. Canebrakes are also threatened because they're being captured illegally for the pet trade and because people generally hate snakes, Zadnik said.
"Because it is a rattlesnake, there is that inclination to kill it," he said. "A lot of people don't automatically appreciate snakes, but they're one part of our native fauna."
Harming or harassing endangered snakes is illegal, he said. There are about 120 animal species in the state that are threatened or endangered, Zadnik said.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/southofjames/dp-11494sy0dec22,0,4316342.story?coll=dp-news-local-soj

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