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Wanting to see if the luck we’ve been having would hold out, Ryan and I decided to do some more herping yesterday. Ryan hadn’t found an Osage for the year so I suggested we hit my Timber/Osage road in Washington County. The plan was to do some road cruising that evening but first we wanted to check out some rock outcroppings and small glades I had found earlier in the spring.

I met Ryan, his dad, and little brother at a nearby gas station and we were soon off. We found the rocks and glades where I had left them in the spring. After about thirty minutes of rock flipping and not finding anything I came across a large rock situated on the edge of a small glade. I notice an old shed lying in pieces at the bottom of the rock so I reached down and picked it up. I holler at Ryan and we decide it’s either a Timber or Osage shed. I pointed down to show him where I found it and simultaneously Ryan and his little brother yelled RATTLESNAKE! And then, ANOTHER ONE! Lying not one inch from where I had picked up the shed was a large Timber partially hidden by the rock with another coiled only a few inches from it. So very excited and a little freaked out from almost touching one of them I set up my photo equipment before trying to pull the snakes out. We decided the best way to go about getting the snakes out was for each of us to hook a separate snake at the same time so as not to lose one while dealing with the other. We managed to remove both snakes with out much trouble. Both snakes were gravid females. One did very little rattling and continually tried to crawl away. The other coiled tightly and buzzed away making the perfect photographic specimen. After a lengthy photo session we decided to put them back under their rock but Ryan wanted to check under the rock first to make sure we didn’t miss one. The next thing I knew Ryan yelled COPPERHEAD! And then TWO OF THEM! We couldn’t believe are luck, resting about a foot farther back under the rock were two Osage Copperheads, one obviously gravid. While I kept tabs on the Rattlesnakes, Ryan managed to pull both Copperheads from the rock. We returned the Timbers to their rock and proceeded photographing the Copperheads.

The rest of the evening was spent road cruising with out any luck. Not finding anything on the road didn’t bother us at all. Ryan had gotten his Osage for the year and I had gotten some much needed Timber photos.

Ryan will post photos soon and I’ll post mine as soon as there back from the lab.

Mike

I could tell from the description that it was a rookerie rock even before you announced that the females were gravid. These snakes can be very sensitive about these rocks and such disturbances as pulling them out can make them completely abandon rocks that have been used for eons. The snakes that use the rocks are mothers/daughters/siblings and they return to this same rock each time they are gravid. Hopefully the disturbance wasn't too much and they will stay and you will be able to observe them again in a couple years during their next pregnancies. If you return in the fall you will also probably find the den within 50 yards or less.

I see this happen all the time with the local Arizona Black rattlesnakes. Herpers hike along, hear a snake buzz as it goes under a rock and flip it over. They are elated to find not one, but two or more snakes, and all gravid females! (and they usually take them all, I have no problems with collecting a few snakes but I think gravid females of denning species should be left alone to do their job). They don't even realize they have completely destroyed a rookerie(putting it back is useless) and there could still be several more females from the same den who are not gravid at the time but would depend on that rock in the future. I have been observing cerb dens and rookeries for over 15 years and I still don't know what to do about this situation. One can try to educate people to be able to recognize a rookerie so they don't destroy it, yet one is also showing the commercial collectors how to hit paydirt. Just about a no-win situation.

I'd like a clarification. When you say "putting it back is useless" do you mean the snakes will never use it again even if it is put back the way it was? I can believe that the snakes would not use it for the remainder of the season, but I'm a little skeptical that the negative effects would last beyond that provided there was no further disturbance. It would be interesting if you experience indicated otherwise. Or do you mean that often the rock cannot be put back properly, especially if the rock is large, on a slope, etc... In any case I agree with the sentiment of your post, we should be cautious and conservative with rookery areas -- one day of overzealous herping could ruin a spot which could provide many lifetimes of interesting observations.

Here in N. Az. I have never seen females return to a rock that had been flipped, no matter how much effort was made to return it to it's original state. I have even found flipped rookerie rocks, gone home and came back with photos of the rocks in question so that I could make every effort to get things perfect, but to no avail.

I learned my lesson back in the early 90's when I suspected two female cerbs were the same two I was always finding together at various spots. I didn't understand about rookeries back then and I carfully hooked them out in order to paint their rattles and then returned them. They never returned to that site. I saw them occasionally in subsequent years, often together (I suspect they are sisters) but never gravid or at another rookerie. Conversely I have seen researchers unknowingly pull females from rookeries, weigh, measure and pit tag them before returning them and the females stayed at least till giving birth that year. One cannot say for sure what will happen, but due to the sensitive nature of rookeries and denning areas, females giving birth every two to three years at best and high newborn mortality the first winter I like to be very cautious.

It is interesting how sensitive snakes can be. My experience with this sort of situation mostly concerns copperheads in OH. You are right on with your advice about great opportunities for in-situ photos. These sites also provide a great opportunity to learn about when (time,temp,...) the snakes are likely to be out.

Hi Rich,

This crossed my mind after the fact and the excitment wore off. The rock was too large to move but we did harass the snakes for a photo session. I relly hope we didn't do any damage. Perhaps I'll make it back next year and see if they made it back to the same rock. I'm planning on moving to Flagstaff in the next couple years. Maby I'll see you in the field.

Mike

Hey Mike,

If you return this summer and the females are still there things will probably be OK. The same females won't be gravid/return again until at least the summer of 2006 or 2007 (timbers breed mid summer, store sperm through hibernation and then ovulate in the spring. They spend the summer cookin babies at the rookeries and give birth approx one year after mating) but you may see other females that breed this summer at the same rock. The cool thing is that once you know where the rocks are you can sneak up and catch the snakes in the open and get in-situ photos, and hopefully with piles of babies out basking in the future You have a great situation there. If you wander about carefully you will probably locate one or two other rookerie rocks. Next year you may find others in use by a different set of females but the ones from this year empty. It takes several years to plot out all the rookeries for a particular clan. I find the social structure/denning habits/reproduction of these rattlesnakes so intriguing it's about all I do anymore.

Thanks Rich, for the great information. I will put it to good use and try to be more aware of the situation I'm encoutering in the future. Although, it is hard to pass up such a good photo opp.

Mike