wmdude102086
Cory
Last week while hiking in the Laurel Mountains of SW Pennsylvania, I came to a very small meadow in the middle of a heavily wooded area, it was rather rocky with plenty of low lying brush. Walking the trail, without any thought of snakes I heard a rather loud hiss. I immediately stopped and spotted a large timber rattlesnake basking at the base of a shrub. As excited as I was I realized the snake was too far away to be the 'hisser' that's when I looked down and noticed my boot was practically pressing up again a black phase timber rattler. After my heart attack I backed away.The snake however was very passive and didnt even rattle. I was wearing shorts and and low boots, and honestly was pretty flustered after such a unexpected up close rattler. Us Pennsylvania folk are not that accustomed to venomous snake encounters!
So yesterday I headed back, better dressed and hoping to be lucky enough to find a snake in the same area-as soon as I arrived at the small meadow, without even leaving the trail I spotted my first snake of the day, and with a little investigation found 12 rattlers total all in on area less than 20 feet all around. I figured I can safely assume this is a maternity den, the males this time of year are on the move, and from the Fish n Boat people I talked to they agreed. It was truly an amazing experience! I've been very careful to not broadcast where this is, you get plenty of poachers after these guys. One guy was catching snakes illegally not far from this site, and was bitten just last month and had to be life flighted to a hospital in West Virginia in critical condition. He tried to tell authorities that he dropped his walking stick, and when he went to pick it up a snake bit him....well when your public myspace page is dedicated to how you get a thrill from catching snakes-makes your story unlikely.
So yesterday I headed back, better dressed and hoping to be lucky enough to find a snake in the same area-as soon as I arrived at the small meadow, without even leaving the trail I spotted my first snake of the day, and with a little investigation found 12 rattlers total all in on area less than 20 feet all around. I figured I can safely assume this is a maternity den, the males this time of year are on the move, and from the Fish n Boat people I talked to they agreed. It was truly an amazing experience! I've been very careful to not broadcast where this is, you get plenty of poachers after these guys. One guy was catching snakes illegally not far from this site, and was bitten just last month and had to be life flighted to a hospital in West Virginia in critical condition. He tried to tell authorities that he dropped his walking stick, and when he went to pick it up a snake bit him....well when your public myspace page is dedicated to how you get a thrill from catching snakes-makes your story unlikely.
