After an extended hiatus from posting on this blog we are finally back and honored to be able feature articles written by Nature Conservancy Senior Science Writer, Matt Miller. Thank you Matt again for offering your talents for our use.
Wildlife biologist Doug Blodgett is
mum about the locations of rattlesnakes:
to protect the snakes from people.
Photo: Matt Miller/TNC
By Matt Miller, senior science
writer
Here’s what you quickly learn about
rattlesnake researchers: They’re
fearless, but pay obsessive attention to safety. They watch their step. And
they keep their mouths shut.
In fact, when I joined snake researchers in the field in Vermont,
I was practically sworn to secrecy. They asked that I promise not to
reveal specific locations where snakes were found, or use any photos with
revealing landmarks. Snake researchers are silent.
For good reason: they do not want their research to endanger the
rattlesnakes they’re trying to conserve.
Snakes should fear us more than we
fear them. Snake researchers know this. They
were far more anxious about people discovering their research sites than they
were about handling venomous snakes.
It’s no secret that people have
strong (and some have argued innate) feelings about snakes. Some take those feelings and act on them. There are those
who hate snakes and round them up, shoot them, spray gasoline down their dens.
There are others who love snakes, who want to interact with them, who want them
as pets, who want to play Croc Hunter.
Both the snake haters and the snake
lovers can harm reptile populations, including Vermont’s endangered
timber rattlesnakes.
That’s why the researchers I
recently accompanied – part of a project between the Vermont
Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Orianne Society
and The Nature Conservancy—were so secretive. They
knew that some people would follow them to research sites, causing
potential havoc for vulnerable timber rattlers.
Vermont paid a bounty on timber
rattlesnakes until 1981, so there are still those who not only kill snakes, but
consider it something of a civic duty.
And while it may seem difficult to
believe for those who consider pets to be cuddly animals like guinea pigs and
golden retrievers, there are those who want to own rattlesnakes. Some
individuals follow researchers to snake hibernation sites, record the location
using GPS and then sell the coordinates to reptile pet enthusiasts. (For an
excellent account of the scope of global reptile trafficking, I recommend Bryan
Christy’s book, The Lizard King).
“Rattlesnakes live for 20 to 40
years, and have low reproductive rates,” says Chris Jenkins, executive director
of the Orianne Society, an organization devoted to reptile conservation.
“Removing or killing adults is one of the very worst things you can do to a
population.”
But some want to interact with
snakes for less nefarious purposes.
They are fascinated by these creatures and just want to see them (and
sometimes, handle them). “Many people want to go to a hibernation site just to
interact with snakes,” says wildlife biologist Doug Blodgett with the Vermont
Department of Fish and Wildlife. “But those interactions can harm snakes and
put people at risk.”
Towards a New Relationship with Rattlesnakes
Give rattlesnakes some space, for
your safety and theirs.
Photo: Matt Miller/TNC
It might seem difficult to override
our feelings about snakes. As
Edward O. Wilson, David Quammen and others have written, many infants will
shriek in terror when shown a snake. Youngsters don’t have such automatic
reactions when shown more dangerous objects, like guns or poison. Kids have to
be taught to avoid these things. With snakes, there’s an inborn fear—likely
from humanity’s time on the savanna when stepping on a venomous snake would
have very bad consequences.
The cultural hatred of snakes can
run deep. Consider rattlesnake roundups, where people
capture snakes (often by using gasoline fumes to flush them out of their dens)
and then hold “family events.” Rattlers are subject to all manner of cruelty at
these events.
But education can make a
difference: in Georgia, the Orianne Society replaced a traditional
rattlesnake roundup with an educational festival about snakes. It has been
better attended than the previous event.
In Vermont, there are still those who would kill all rattlesnakes
given the chance. As I rode through a small town with Blodgett, a large pickup
pulled up next to us and hissed “SNAKE!” out the window, this despite
Blodgett’s secrecy about the project. Some local residents believe the
researchers are stocking snakes, a fairly common conspiracy theory wherever
rattlesnakes are found.
Still, most people recognize timber
rattlesnakes as an important part of the Appalachian Mountains. They are happy
to know the rattlers are out there but don’t need interactions.
But what if a rattlesnake ends up in
your backyard? The research partners have been
handing out refrigerator magnets and brochures that list licensed snake researchers who will come
and safely remove any rattlesnakes.
“It’s making a difference,” says
Blodgett. “People know who to call when they have a rattlesnake too close.”
Most people will hike by timber
rattlesnakes without even knowing they’re nearby. In fact, even snake researchers often have difficulty
finding the snakes, even those with radio transmitters.
If you do see a rattlesnake while
out hiking, consider yourself lucky, and enjoy the encounter from a distance. And
consider this: While habitat loss, disease and climate change certainly pose risks
to timber rattlesnakes, they also continue to be threatened by human ignorance.
So give snakes plenty of space. After facing too many years of relentless persecution and
bad human behavior, they deserve it.
- See more at: http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/06/12/silence-of-the-rattlesnake-researchers-snakes-culture-and-conservation/#sthash.saxCUflq.dpuf
Matt Miller is a senior science writer for the Conservancy. He writes
features and blogs about the conservation research being conducted by the
Conservancy’s 550 scientists. Matt previously worked for nearly 11 years as
director of communications for the Conservancy’s Idaho program. He has served on the national
board of directors of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, and has
published widely on conservation, nature and outdoor sports. He has held two
Coda fellowships, assisting conservation programs in Colombia and Micronesia.
An avid naturalist and outdoorsman, Matt has traveled the world in search of
wildlife and stories.
- See more at:
http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/06/12/silence-of-the-rattlesnake-researchers-snakes-culture-and-conservation/#sthash.saxCUflq.dpuf
