KENT—There have been more than half a dozen sightings of rattlesnakes in Kent and neighboring towns this summer, an occurrence that is about average, according to DEEP wildlife biologist Michael Ravesi.
Area towns reporting sightings include Kent, Cornwall, Washington, Falls Village and Millerton.
While July and August are the months most sightings take place, Ravesi said it is because the weather is hot, and the cold-blooded snakes are at their most active—not because their numbers have increased since the Connecticut Endangered Species Act was passed in 1989. Nationally, rattlesnakes are considered to be endangered, and it is illegal to hunt or poach them. They are one of only two poisonous snake species in Connecticut, the other being the copperhead.
“The hottest months are when you are most likely to see them,” Ravesi said. “By then, they have had a couple of months to warm up. July is the peak when they are furthest from their den.”
The snakes typically return to their dens starting in September.
“Our goal is protection, to have their numbers stabilized,” Ravesi continued. “But to have a sense of whether those numbers are increasing would take a long time and a lot of data. Otherwise, the information is anecdotal. Generally, we have a sense most populations are still in decline.”
That decline results from the “usual things,” he said—habitat destruction, road mortality, willful killing, poaching and disease. Timber rattlesnake habitat consists of forest with rocky outcroppings and dry rocky ridges. They need large sections of uninterrupted forest to do well.
“It’s really rare for humans to have an encounter with a rattlesnake. The snake is well camouflaged and the last thing it wants is for a human to know it’s there. They think people are predators.”
—Michael Ravesi, wildlife biologist
It is believed that during Colonial times rattlesnakes were found throughout Connecticut. The proliferation of place names referring to the reptiles gives testimony to their prevalence and colonial records record the bounties paid to farmers who brought in their tails as evidence of their extirpation.
“For hundreds of years people have targeted them because they saw them as a risk, especially in periods when they are congregating,” Ravesi said. But Ravesi said the snakes will almost always avoid contact. Indeed, the snake that bit a Torrington man earlier this summer was responding to direct provocation when the man threw a shirt over it in an attempt to move it out of the road.
“It’s really rare for humans to have an encounter with a rattlesnake,” Ravesi said. “The snake is well camouflaged and the last thing it wants is for a human to know it’s there. They think people are predators and they usually don’t even rattle unless you are too close. They are very unlikely to bite.”
An article on the Connecticut DEEP website reports that there were only six recorded rattlesnake bites in Connecticut from the period of about 1950 to 2004. An estimated 25 percent of defensive bites are dry, meaning no poison is delivered, and often only a fraction of the potential venom is delivered when they are “wet.” If they should occur, however, rattlesnake bites are dangerous and rapid medical treatment is necessary.
If a snake is found around a residence, it is probably looking for food, Ravesi said. Chipmunks and mice are often found near or in houses and snakes will travel far looking for food. They hunt by lying motionless in ambush for their prey. They locate prey by sight, smell and can sense body heat with their sensory pits. When prey animals come near, the snake strikes.
They are considered to be helpful predators because they dine on rodents.
Beyond human predation, snake populations have decreased simply because people have destroyed their habitat. “As the landscape developed, timber was removed for housing, roads and farming—that was a huge factor,” said Ravesi. “They don’t fly or disperse far [their summer range is about four miles], and because of that groups are becoming increasingly isolated with no linkages between them. Genetically, that becomes problematic. Add the related factors of road mortality, the diseases affecting snakes like the snake fungal disease, and there are definitely red flags.”
Even climate change is playing its part. “Fungus is one manifestation of how climate could impact snakes. During wet, rainy years there are more instances of fungus. The corollary seems to be there,” the biologist said.
Then there is the problem of too warm winters. Snakes are cold-blooded and begin to move back to their dens in September. “If the winter is too warm, it can disrupt their ecology,” said Ravesi. “They might not den up until later or come out too early. If a day is too warm during winter, they might stick their heads out of their dens. Basically, they use more energy if they are waking up.”
The animals are slow growing and may live for decades if they escape the many dangers that confront them. Even their gestation is prolonged. “Females give birth this time of year,” Ravesi reported. “They mate in summer and gestate for almost a year. They develop the embryos through the winter, spring and early summer and then give birth to live young. People often associate maternal care with mammals, but rattlesnakes will give birth and hang around for week or two. The babies stay right with her. She largely does not eat for a year—her only goal is to get enough heat to develop the young—and she is probably super hungry when she gives birth, but still, she doesn’t blast off. She will stay with them for a week or two until they shed their first skin, and then she will move off.”
Females only breed every three to four years and only one-third reproduce more than once.
The DEEP herpetologist urged people who see snakes or who know where they den not to share that information. “There are small numbers of them, and we shouldn’t [endanger them by] pointing out where they are,” he said.
To avoid trouble, don’t bother or approach snakes, watch where you step, and if you have startled a rattlesnake and it is in a defensive posture and rattling, move away very slowly. Snake vision is designed to be most sensitive to quick movements.
