DAILY STAR (Oneonta, New York) 21 April 06 Some snakes around here can get you really rattled (Rick Brockway)
Most of us don’t like snakes.
I guess it all started with Adam and Eve. A snake told Eve to eat an apple, and he’s had a bad rap ever since.
The few snakes we have around here are run-of-the-mill varieties — garter snakes, milk snakes, etc. — but nothing too exciting.
In the past, though, South Mountain in the West Davenport area was a haven for the rattlesnakes. Last summer, as you may recall, a timber rattler was found along Hemlock Road.
They’re still around, but not like they used to be.
When I attended college at Oneonta State in the late 60s, I visited the office of Dr. New in the science building. While leaning against a doorway during a conversation, a slight movement to my right caught my eye.
A rattlesnake was in the glass case next to me. I hastily took two giant steps to the left as my heart slowly descended from my throat.
The area down along Route 17 and Hancock also used to be loaded with rattlers. A lot of guys hunted them and made some pretty good money by selling their venom, rattles and hides.
Back when I shoed horses for a living, I got a call from a guy near Hales Eddy who needed new shoes for a big Appaloosa. As I rasped away on the horse’s feet, I asked the owner if he had ever seen any rattlesnakes around.
"No," he said. "There used to be some around years ago, but since the turkeys became so abundant, I haven’t seen any. I guess the turkeys eat the babies."
I thought that sounded pretty logical.
A couple of months later, I went back to reset his horse’s shoes. When I arrived, his car and truck were in the driveway, but he was nowhere to be found.
I waited a short while before he came down the bank with a car radio in his hand.
"I’m getting rid of my old Trans-Am," he said, "so I thought I’d pull this radio out of it."
While I worked on the horse, a roll back came to get the car. The driver backed up to the bank and ran a cable up to the vehicle. The winch started and the car emerged from the deep grass. As it came closer, the door swung open to reveal a huge rattlesnake, which slithered out into the driveway.
This snake, which was in the car while the guy was removing the car radio, was at least 4 feet long and as big around as a baseball bat. So much for his theory on rattlers.
Hikers and campers who like to spend time in the Adirondack Mountains can find several rattlesnakes at the northern end of Lake George. Tongue Mountain, that big, tree-covered peninsula that sticks down toward the center of the lake, is infested with rattlers.
A few years ago, a forest fire broke out on Tongue Mountain. The firefighters had to keep a constant lookout for those big snakes. Signs along the hiking trails also warn backpackers to be cautious when traveling through the area.
Timber rattlers are protected in New York state. They are large snakes, usually between 3 and 4½ feet in length, but the record is 74½ inches.
Rattlers have two color phases. The yellow phase is light brown to creamy yellow with dark-brown crossbands, and the black phase is very dark brown to black with almost indistinguishable crossbands. Both easily blend in to their multi-colored habitats. They like deciduous forests with rugged, rocky terrain.
Maybe turkeys have had an effect on the decreased numbers of snakes in the area, but collectors, hunters and poachers did their fair share of damage to a specie that probably doesn’t deserve the bad rap it carries.
Some snakes around here can get you really rattled