DU QUOIN EVENING CALL (Illinois) 05 June 06 NEVER a Plan to Grow Rattlesnake Populations in Southern Illinois (John H. Croessman)
Du Quoin: It began as a question to a newspaperman at Lion's Field--a sincere inquiry as to why the Du Quoin Evening Call hadn't run a story “yet” on the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' work to grow the population of timber rattlesnakes--still on the nation's endangered species--in Southern Illinois.
“Wh-a-a-a-t?” I responded.
At the risk of becoming the herpetology poster child, I responded, “I've always felt the only good snake is a dead snake.” Even an eight-inch garter snake was put on this earth to shoot venom into my face and squeeze the life out of me.
I had to get an answer.
Pyramid State Park site superintendent Cha Hill hooked me up with Scott Ballard, herpetologist and educator for IDNR in the Marion, Ill. office. He told me: 1.) There has never been a plan to change or grow the timber rattlesnake populations in Southern Illinois, and 2.) for several reasons, you cannot remove rattlesnakes from one area and relocate them to another. “Rattlesnakes follow scent trails,” said Ballard. “If you relocate a rattlesnake, it has no scent trail and will crawl off in a straight line until it dies,” he said
“No, we're not tying baby rattlesnakes to little parachutes and dropping them from black helicopters into Southern Illinois at night,” he said. He says on the best day a rattler gets a bad rap.
“Rattlesnakes are a very gentle animal,” said Ballard. “It is all in how you perceive the animal. There are no aggressive snakes in Illinois, none that will attack without provocation, and none that are life-threatening. You don't want to kill one because they will eat a pillowcase full of mice,” he said.
Ballard says he once laid down near one by accident. The snake never stirred, never bit him, never tried to strike.
“Snakes you see that you think are poisonous may be non-venomous,” he said. “All snakes will flatten out their heads if you approach them (to mimick a poisonous snake) and a blunt tail may simply mean a raccoon bit off the end of it,” he said.
Southern Illinois does have a rattlesnake population, largely in the rocky bluffs along the Mississippi River, but the numbers are both small and endangered. On rare occasions there have been sightings in extreme northern Perry County, but very seldom.
He said the most common poisonous snake in our area is the copperhead. Ballard says the copperhead has short fangs. Unless you are bitten in the hand, arm or on an uncovered leg, a boot or good denim jean will deflect most bites. Ballard said the bite of a copperhead is “weak”, by comparison to some bites, and many hospitals will nurse the bite wound and prescribe an antibiotic, but not anti-venom.
But other copperhead bite victims get very sick and are scarred around the wound.
“Our studies show that water moccasins--another poisonous snake--live no farther north than Rt. 13 in Southern Illinois,” Ballard said.
Even history comes down on the side of the rattlesnake. It was considered our national symbol long before the bald eagle.
It appeared on many early flags including the famous "Don't Tread on Me" flag.
Since those times the timber rattlesnake has been hunted and hounded to the brink of extinction. No wonder that these snakes are getting hard to find.
Ballard said rattlesnakes are long-lived, late-maturing and slow-reproducing animals that have relatively short activity periods during a given year. The low reproductive output and low turnover in populations make the timber rattlesnake very susceptible to extremely low exploitation levels.
The normal range of the timber rattlesnake is two miles from the den. When temperatures begin to warm in the spring, timber rattlesnakes comes out of hibernation. They remain near the den entrance for a few days, sunning and warming themselves. They then make their way to where they will spend the summer. The timber rattlesnake makes its way to the same summer feeding area year after year, following scents left from the previous years. The young that are born each spring follow the same scents. In the fall, when temperatures start to cool, the timber rattlesnakes follow these same scents back to the den to begin their hibernation cycle. Some dens have been in use for over a hundred years.
They are secretive in their summer activities, hunting at night and remaining inactive and out of sight for days at a time during the digestive period after eating a squirrel or small rabbit.
Timber rattlesnakes are extremely shy and will make every effort to avoid human contact. They will bite only when we get too close and only to defend themselves.
Snakes don't have external ear openings and are virtually deaf to airborne sounds. They can, however, feel vibrations through the ground.
NEVER a Plan to Grow Rattlesnake Populations in Southern Illinois