DAILY HERALD (Chicago, Illinois) 21 July 08 Rare rattler bred in captivity in Lake Co. (Lauren Salapatek)
It's a rare occasion at Lake Forest's Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm.
After five years, employees have successfully bred a ridge-nosed rattlesnake, an endangered species found in captivity in only a few places in the world.
In fact, some might call 2-month-old Hopi a miracle baby.
"Ridge-nosed rattlesnakes are seldom seen in the wild and very few facilities in the U.S. are keeping them because they are difficult to raise as babies," said Robert Carmichael, curator of the Wildlife Discovery Center. "Very few bred babies of this species assimilate in captivity and sometimes don't make it past a few years."
Carmichael says Hopi is doing very well so far, spending most of the time curled up on a small log in a cage in his office. Within the next six months, Hopi will join the 32 other rattlesnakes on display in the center's newest exhibit, "The Grass is Rattling," opening Sept. 1.
Native to the mountainous regions of southeastern Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Mexico, ridge-nosed rattlesnakes are distinguished by their strong contrasting white facial stripes and ridges running along each side of their nostrils. Like other rattlesnakes, Hopi has earth-tone coloration and uses camouflaging to blend into the environment.
Even though Hopi is only 8 inches long, Carmichael said the little rattler's venom "could bring someone down if it feels cornered." For this reason, Carmichael uses a small hook to move the snake around.
The toughest challenge is getting Hopi to adapt to food snakes aren't accustomed to. Hopi prefers to eat Earless and Fence lizards, but employees are trying to make rodents a staple.
"Facilities we work with have shipped us these two types of lizards," said Carmichael. "We would rather not sacrifice the lizards to the snake, so we have been rubbing the lizard's scents onto the rodents, which we instead feed to our baby."
Employees think a month or two of feeding rodents will get Hopi hooked.
The Wildlife Discovery Center duplicates all of their rattlesnakes' natural environments and sets them up on separate thermostats and light timers to mimic day and night hours.
"We have approximately 100 species in the venomous room with a large representation of not only rattlesnakes but cobras, mambas and vipers." said Carmichael. "It's probably one of the largest public exhibits of venomous reptiles in the eastern half of the United States."
The center also has about 30 other species of reptiles in their main room, including tortoises, alligators, lizards and a saltwater crocodile named Maximus. It also houses four raptors, two hawks and two owls in three cages outside of the center.
"Our main theme here is teaching conservation education and for our visitors to gain an understanding and respect for nature." said Carmichael. "We hope to instill a deep sense of love in nature to our guests with the goal of helping them develop a further appreciation for these kinds of animals."
Rare rattler bred in captivity in Lake Co.

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