STAR-GAZETTE (Elmira, New York) 03 October 07 Father, daughter charmed by snakes (Jim Pfiffer)
She wanted to see firsthand why her father made such a fuss over rattlesnakes.
Why was Art "Doc" Smith so fascinated with those snakes?
Polly needed to find out for herself.
So Dad took his daughter on a hike near his Big Flats hilltop home to show her a timber rattlesnake being itself in the wild.
That was seven years ago, and it started Polly Smith-Blackwell's fascination with the maligned reptile. Now she and her dad, a retired eye doctor, share that fascination and serve as educators, ambassadors and protectors for one of the region's rarest life forms that is listed as a threatened species by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Of all the beasts, the venomous viper is one of the most reviled and misunderstood. The primal fear comes from centuries of misunderstanding. The rattlesnake is not one of nature's warm and fuzzy creations. Lidless and unblinking eyes and a forked tongue whipping from the mouth do little to endear the serpent.
But the snake's biggest enemy is the public's misconception that it's a mean and aggressive reptile bent on biting people and leaving them to die slow and gruesome deaths. How do we know this? From the TV westerns and horror movies. Problem is, it's bull.
That bothers Polly. She wants people to see snakes for what they are -- innocent elements of nature.
"I love the timber rattlesnake," Polly says. "I'm trying to learn as much as I can about them to protect them and educate the public about them."
The best way to do that is to witness the snakes in wild. But that takes time, knowledge and for most people, courage.
Pictures are the next best thing. That's why Polly published a 2008 calendar of Big Flats timber rattlers. Each month features a close-up color photograph of a snake and a few lines explaining what the reptiles are doing.
Example: Between late August and late September, female timber rattlesnakes give birth to five to 10 babies. The neonates will shed their first skin within 10 days.
The rest of the calendar is peppered with smaller photos of birds, deer, butterflies, wild flowers and other local flora and fauna. Polly took the pictures over the last 18 months during regular hikes into the woods around her home to look for rattlers. She took thousands of photographs. Although she used a 300mm zoom lens on a Nikon D70S digital camera, she had to get within a few feet of some snakes to get tight shots.
The rattlesnakes make great photo subjects, especially when they're basking in the warm sun. They hold still and don't flee.
"Not many other animals in nature will do that," Polly explains.
Polly knows how to be safe around the snakes. She's been a New York state licensed rattlesnake handler for five years. When people find rattlesnakes in their backyard, for example, Polly and her dad are called to rescue them. She picks up the snakes with special tongs, places them in a bag or bucket and returns them to the nearest den. Polly and her dad know the location of the dens, but they keep that information secret because too many people still want to hunt and kill the timber rattlesnake.
When she's not hiking and photographing snakes in the wild, Polly cares for Roger, a live captive rattlesnake at Tanglewood Nature Center & Museum in Big Flats, where she is a board member. Polly and her husband, DeLos, live next door to the nature center. Dad lives close by, too.
The 8 1/2-inch-by-11-inch photos in the calendar are vivid and noticeable. Snake pictures are hard to ignore.
"By being very visible, it gets people talking," says Polly, who owns a small graphic arts business. "It spurs conversations about the snakes and learning about them."
The public's fear and misconceptions about the snake is changing, thanks to people like Polly and her dad and educational programs at Tanglewood.
"Fifteen years ago, people wanted to kill the snakes just because they were there," says Polly, a 1974 graduate of Edison High School in Elmira Heights. "Today, many of those same people respect the snakes and look forward to going on hikes just so they can see them."
That's the ultimate reward for Polly.
Even better is the bond that has developed between Polly and her 85-year-old dad. They spend hours together in the woods, studying and chatting about their favorite reptile.
"During the summer, we're out every weekend," Polly adds.
Dad taught her the names of all the flowers and insects pictured in the calendar. He also taught her his respect and love of nature. Now father and daughter treasure special memories and experiences that they will never forget.
They owe it all to the timber rattlesnake.
http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071003/COLUMNIST36/710030304

WCAX (Burlington, Vermont) 03 October 07 Upstate photographer publishes calendar of timber rattlers
Big Flats, N.Y. (AP) - It seems everyone from Hooters girls to nude farmers has posed for calendars.
Now there's a calendar featuring photographs of rattlesnakes.
Polly Smith-Blackwell got her fascination for timber rattlers from her father, a retired doctor and snake enthusiast from the Elmira area. A few years ago, her father started taking her into the hills near his home to get an up-close look at rattlers in the wild.
Smith-Blackwell also became fascinated with the snakes. She's now 1 of the state's licensed rattlesnake handlers, removing the reptiles from people's yards and returning the rattlers to their dens.
Smith-Blackwell also photographs rattlers. She says they make good models -- the stay still and won't flee when they're basking in the warm sun.
She says she published a calendar of rattler photos to educate the public about them and protect the critters.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7162481&nav=4QcS

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