FLINT JOURNAL (Michigan) 13 July 06 Rattlin' an image: Ph.D candidate hopes to change the way we feel about snakes (Elizabeth Shaw)
Talk about a bad public relations image.
In the animal world, it would be hard to find one worse than a rattlesnake's.
But charming people into loving a legless, venomous reptile is more than just a tough PR job for Rebecca Christoffel. It's her passion and chosen life's work.
"It's easy to get people all warm and fuzzy about bears and birds and even turtles. It's not so easy convincing them they ought to care about snakes," said Christoffel, 45, a Michigan State University doctoral candidate from Madison, Wis., who is studying people's beliefs and attitudes about snakes.
Christoffel is trying to learn why so many people dislike snakes, to figure out the best way to educate the public about the plight of Michigan's eastern massasauga rattlesnake, which researchers fear is on the demise.
"It's not easy. You're going against deeply ingrained cultural conditioning that goes all the way back to Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve," she said. "Think about all the sayings that refer to snakes. A forked tongue is a big liar. When you call someone a 'snake in the grass,' it's not a compliment. Snakes are portrayed as evil, bad and dangerous in TV programs, religion, even children's books."
There is still heated debate about whether such fear is learned or innate, she said, despite research suggesting children are naturally fascinated by the creatures until they're taught differently.
"A lot of it is they're so unlike us in the way they behave and in their form," she said, comparing the fear of snakes to the fear of spiders or other creatures with too many or too few limbs.
"But once you learn it, it's hard to unlearn it. You can overcome a fear of dogs after being bitten by having lots of positive experiences. With snakes, we have so few interactions, that doesn't happen."
Still, it's a job Christoffel is determined to do, and not just for the snake's sake.
The loss of any animal can upset nature's delicate balance in ways that can't be fully predicted. Conserving rattlesnake habitat also protects other wildlife and plants that thrive in wetlands and adjacent prairies.
Rattlesnake venom also is being explored for potential medicinal uses.
"All organisms have a right to be here. It's not up to us to say what's worthwhile and not worthwhile," Christoffel said. "I can't put a monetary value on it, but I shouldn't need to. There are many organisms we have not recognized the value of until after they were gone."
She cited the example of an Australian frog, now extinct, which brooded its young in its stomach by exuding a special coating protecting them against digestive acids.
"It had real potential for treatment for ulcers. But they disappeared off the landscape shortly after it was discovered they had this cool enzyme we might've been able to develop into a great pharmaceutical.
"Just because we don't - at this moment in time - see a direct utilitarian or economic benefit doesn't mean it doesn't belong here or we shouldn't care."
Michigan is home to 18 kinds of snakes but only one of which is venomous: the eastern massasauga rattlesnake.
The massasauga can be found throughout lower Michigan, considered by many to be the species' last major stronghold in the U.S.
Areas of concentration include Oakland, Livingston, Jackson and Washtenaw counties in the southeast; Allegan, Barry and Kalamazoo counties in the southwest; and Iosco, Crawford and Kalkaska counties in the northern Lower Peninsula.
In the past decade, sightings have been reported in 50 counties, including Genesee and Lapeer.
Small and heavy-bodied, the massasauga is a shy creature more apt to hide and flee than strike.
Michigan reports an average of 1-2 bites a year. While its venom is among the most toxic of all rattlesnakes, the amount is so small and its fangs so short, bites rarely are fatal. In fact, there have been no known fatalities in the past 40 years.
But all that hasn't prevented people from fearing them, and usually killing them when they can.
In fact, intentional destruction combined with habitat loss has put the massasauga at risk of future extinction.
Even here in Michigan, its numbers have declined so much it has been designated an official candidate for the Federal Endangered Species list.
Christoffel's mission: to keep the massasauga off that list.
She's trying to do that by enlisting the public in voluntary habitat conservation, to avoid what happens when federal controls step in to dictate how and where habitat will be protected.
"Once an animal is listed, it makes it a lot more difficult for land owners and managers to do their activities and make decisions about how the land is used. Keeping it off the list also saves the state a ton of extra manpower and bureaucracy," she warned.
"If you can keep the population high enough to keep them off the list, it makes everybody's life easier."
Can she convince Michigan residents that living with the eastern massasauga has more value than risk?
She's not sure - but she's willing to try.
"You can argue all you want for saving habitat through land management regimes, but the fact of the matter is in the eastern U.S. most land is privately owned.
"We, as wildlife managers, must get the cooperation of private landowners to keep these populations healthy."
Rattlin' an image: Ph.D candidate hopes to change the way we feel about snakes