Silence of the Rattlesnake Researchers: Snakes, Culture and Conservation - via Herp Digest

June 12, 2013, by Matt Miller Sr. Science Writer---Cool Green Nature, Nature Conservancy Blog- 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.

IJn 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.”