Probably the best thing to do with nuisance rattlesnakes is to leave them alone and let them disperse on their own. Several pit vipers, especially timber rattlesnakes, eastern massasaugas, and even copperheads and cottonmouths show site fidelity to their denning sites, and forage throughout the summer following chemical cues with their tongue. William Brown and others have done radio telemetry with timber rattlesnakes and found that they move almost the exact same trek from emergence out of hibernation through returning to the same den each fall. Eastern massasaugas also return to the same area each year as well. Sometimes moving these animals even short distances can confuse them in getting them off their chemical cue trek. So what do you do? We need to educate the public on how venomous snakes are nonaggressive animals that bite only when stepped on, picked up, or cornered. Venomous snakes eat as many harmful rodents as do nonvenomous snakes. Usually when someone finds a venomous snake in their yard, it will leave soon and was just passing through. A venomous snakebite does not mean you are going to die. About a third of venomous snakebites are dry, in which no venom is injected. Most of the public doesn't know these facts, nor how beneficial snakes are, regardless of whether they're venomous or nonvenomous. And if someone persists in wanting a venomous snake moved, either do it the shortest distance you can and hope it will resume its trek, or collect it and use it for educational purposes in a zoo or nature center. I certainly wouldn't move a venomous snake five miles, one mile, or even a half mile. While we don't want to see people wantonly killing venomous snakes, they do so out of ignorance, and we need to arm them with education on how beneficial they are.



Greg Henry

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