POST-GAZETTE (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 11 October 09 New survey finds Pennsylvania rattlesnake populations waning (Terry McCormick)
The buzzing was loud ... and close.
Matt Wilson quickly glanced downward and spotted the source. A timber rattlesnake lay curled only a few feet away in the knee-high, wild huckleberry patch where he and his wife Paula were hiking.
"I heard another buzz and looked down by my boot," he said. "One was right beside it. Two more were right in front of me. We decided to move into the woods. We almost never see snakes without nearby rocks for them to escape under. It was very unusual. Just when you think you know everything about them, they confound you."
Despite the occasional confounding, the husband and wife team from Smethport, Pa., had a busy summer this year fulfilling assessment requests from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's Timber Rattlesnake Site Assessment and Inventory Project. The project's goal is to check the nearly 600 known rattlesnake den sites in the state, while assessing the health and status of the overall population of the reptile, which in Pennsylvania is a "candidate species' for listing as threatened or endangered.
"We did a total of 37 rattlesnake den site assessments this season" said Wilson. "Many were in Tioga, Elk and Clearfield counties, so each was a long drive, likely followed by a tough hike."
Den sites are usually rocky areas where rattlesnakes can safely hibernate over winter. After emerging in late April, the snakes hang around the den for only a few weeks before moving out to hunt. Gravid (pregnant) females bask in the sun or give birth at specific locations they have used before. Rattlers can travel miles from their dens over summer and return the following fall.
The assessment season begins in early spring when the snakes first come out of their dens. The Wilsons usually stop searching in early September. Before and after these times, it's "a crap shoot" to see snakes.
This summer's cool, wet weather didn't put a damper on site confirmations -- they documented more snakes than last year. But their research left them concerned about the reptile's future.
"The north-central area of the state seems to be holding its own, especially on public land. However, the northeast and south-central populations are having problems," said Wilson. "We don't see as many rattlers on private land either. All of the snakes that we saw this season were on state forest lands."
Jim Chestney, director of the project and a rattlesnake specialist for the Fish and Boat Commission, said the south-central part of the state had a good reproductive output, while the north-central area hit its usual average.
The snakes must reach 7 to 9 years of age to reproduce, once every three years at a minimum.
"[It] makes our efforts to learn as much as we can about the reptiles and their habitat all the more critical," said Chestney. "The Game Lands of the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the state forests overseen by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources are managed for wildlife. Habitat is preserved and human activity regulated to this end. ... We also have many, very cooperative landowners, yet activity on private lands, like construction, logging, ATV trails and so on, is less restrained and could have a detrimental effect on any existing snake populations."
Rattlesnakes less than 42 inches in length are protected in Pennsylvania. This law protects young snakes and females specifically -- they rarely get longer than 40 inches. Nevertheless, the killing of poisonous snakes, whether they're run over on a highway or shot on sight, takes a toll.
"People often have a shock reaction upon seeing a rattlesnake," Chestney said, "Education about the animals and their place in the ecosystem helps prevent that. Young people today are more likely to enjoy and react well to a sighting of a rattlesnake in nature than their parents were at the same age."
Wilson described crotalus horridus to be a shy and retiring animal.
"Believe it or not, these guys are really timid. They don't chase people. They will do anything to avoid a confrontation," he said.
Still, when dealing with any potentially dangerous animal, caution is the watchword. While doing assessments, the Wilsons rarely touch the animals. Much of the information they need can be deduced simply by observation.
"When we find snakes while assessing a site we count them as best we can," said Wilson. "We observe and estimate sizes, sex and coloration. Normally we'll see about three darks for every light phase. This summer we saw some as small as 10 inches and a few up to 54 inches or larger. The big ones are males. I carry a tape recorder, camera and a GPS. Each site we visit requires both a three-page report and a map be submitted to project leaders, whether we find snakes or not."
Unlike last year, the Wilson's documents several "spaghetti piles" in 2009. "The theory is that there is a three-year cycle for having young," he said. "Last season they were feeding in the woods. This year they were basking and incubating their young. Often several females will go to the same rock to bask, making a plate of spaghetti, so to speak.It was a good season. We had a blast. Any time we spend in the woods makes us happy."
Read more about the state's rattlesnake project at www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=496&q=161850.
New survey finds Pennsylvania rattlesnake populations waning