B]KPAX (Missoula, Montana) 16 July 08 Rattlers unwelcome at Buffalo Jump park

Prairie rattlesnakes are a common sight in Central Montana, but their appearance at the First People's Buffalo Jump State Park is becoming too frequent.

To make the park less inviting to these unwanted guests, work is underway to keep smaller animals the snakes like to eat out of the park. The park also replaced landscaping with pea gravel, trimmed shrubs near the ground and removed rocks that snakes hide behind.

Fewer snakes are turning up in the park, but some still find their way to the visitor area.

"This year we've collected about 25 snakes. We just catch them in a big garbage can that we've conditioned for them, we take them elsewhere in the park and just turn them loose. We don't kill them, they're part of the ecosystem. We just remove them from the building area," said park manager Richard Hopkins.

A snake found near a lamp post in the park Tuesday turned into an attraction for some Buffalo Jump visitors. The snake was later taken to a remote area of the park and released safely.
Rattlers unwelcome at Buffalo Jump park

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