BRADFORD ERA (Pennsylvania) 21 September 06 Wilsons go on snake 'hunts' for research ( Terry McCormick)

Most winter hunters head into the woods with a gun or bow and the intent to kill, but for Matt and Paula Wilson of Smethport, their hunting season in late winter 2006 involved a hook and the intent to preserve.

The couple is well known in the area for their rattlesnake "hunting" exploits. Every summer, standard hunting permits in hand, the two scour the mountains of northcentral Pennsylvania for the venomous timber rattler (Crotalus Horridus). Once they find and capture a specimen, they collect data on it before freeing it unharmed on site.

At the end of each "season" they turn in a complete report of their findings to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which is responsible for protecting Pennsylvania's reptiles.

Their reputation for thoroughness and determination got around, and in late February they received a call from Jim Chestney, field coordinator for the Pennsylvania Timber Rattlesnake Site Assessment and Inventory Project, asking if they wished to join the project.

Operating under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the project is an on-going study of new and historic rattlesnake den sites and rookeries. Researchers attempt to visit all known sites verifying whether rattlers do indeed exist there.

At some sites snakes are captured and quickly checked to determine sex, age, length, color phase and habitat preference. Blood samples are collected from a few for DNA, and a microchip is implanted in the snake for permanent identification.

"We were so excited we lost hours of sleep in March, waiting for the project's training session at Pleasant Gap," Matt Wilson said. "This invitation gave us the opportunity to really do something significant to help protect and observe these misunderstood reptiles."

Wilson admits they had a lot of learning to do.

"It was a bit of a struggle at first, dealing with the technical demands of the study," he said. "But, with the help of some friends and Jim Rhoads and Jim Chestney of the project, we were able to get up and running by the end of May."

A typical day in the field for the Wilson's meant a drive of between 120 and 175 miles round-trip, a hike up a mountain to find a potential den site in searing summer heat using GPS coordinates supplied by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, followed later that evening by two hours of computer work filling out the multi-page report form and delineating the area on a map.

Four distinct sites studied in the project included basking areas, where snakes soak up the warmth of the sun; rookery rocks, where pregnant (gravid) females collect to have their young via live birth; feeding/foraging sites where the rattlers would lie in wait for prey; and den sites, where they gather to survive the winter.

"Like most folks, we thought we would come upon large rocks with oodles of Timbers all over the place. It wasn't like that at all," Wilson said. "We found that many of the sites were empty, especially in the peripheral areas. Out of the 43 assessments we've done so far, maybe a dozen had Timbers. Of those dozen, only a handful had more than a couple of snakes.

"Many of the assessments on private property didn't have any snakes. We always talked with the owners to get permission to do the assessments, and most of them hadn't seen snakes in years or had killed them all off early on."

The snakes they did find were usually on Pennsylvania State Forest Land. They had one banner day when they located several dozen and another when they found balls of "neonates," or newborn rattlers. Later they watched an adult rattler navigate through Mountain Laurel branches at eye level.

"I'd heard of that sort of thing, but it was really neat to see it in person," Wilson said.

Despite his enthusiasm, Wilson knows there are risks, and he knows the hard way. Three summers ago he suffered a rattlesnake bite to the hand through supposedly snake proof, Kevlar-lined gloves and discovered that, in addition to the toxicity of the venom, he is also allergic to it in the same way some are allergic to bee stings. Despite spending 12 days in intensive care and suffering through months of recuperation and therapy, he suffered no lingering effects from the bite other than the affected hand gets cold easily.

"Really, the biggest concern we have is falling down," Wilson said. "Some of those hills are very steep."

Paula Wilson disagrees with him on that point. She prefers he never handle a rattler up close again, urging him instead to use a long-handled snake hook. She took to heart his doctor's stern admonition that the next bite could be his last.

Despite the obvious risks, both relish their time in the wilderness together searching for one of Pennsylvania's most reclusive and maligned creatures.

"I can't wait until next year," Matt Wilson said. "Some guys dream about a new ATV, or car, or... Well, I dream about snakes. Luckily, Paula does too."
Wilsons go on snake 'hunts' for research

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• PA Press: Snake 'hunts' for research - W von Papineäu, Fri Sep 22 19:56:14 2006