Rattlesnakes back in Western Md.

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  • ktm rider

    Active Member
    Feb 21, 2011
    748
    Undisclosed and Secure
    So, When I was a kid and always stayed at our farm on Savage Mountain, in the late70's early 80's, my grandfather would kill probably 10 rattlesnakes each summer. that number slowly dwindled down to zero through the years.

    In 2001 I built a house on the farm and have never seen any rattlesnakes from then until now.

    last year all of the sudden, people were posting pics of rattlesnakes they have seen, mostly on the back roads. The rumor is that the state "reintroduced" them to Western Md. I even heard that the state traded wild turkeys to a state out west for the rattlesnakes. Now I don't know if any of that is true but I do know that people have been seeing them, a lot of them all of the sudden.

    Well, low and behold, this is what I see at my entrance gate Monday afternoon
     

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    Abuck

    Ultimate Member
    Point Lookout GRSF a few years ago.

    I see rattlers every year in GR. Even stepped on one a long time ago. Got lucky that time.

    The old timers always warned to be more aware when it got hot and dry, as they came down off the high ridges then.
     

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    ktm rider

    Active Member
    Feb 21, 2011
    748
    Undisclosed and Secure
    I'm not saying there were zero rattlesnakes in Western Md. But the numbers were probably next to zero. I just find it interesting that I haven't seen ANY since the early 90's. Also, no one I know have seen any since then. Then, BANG !! pics all over social media and stories of rattlesnakes just explodes in one year?
     

    ted76

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 20, 2013
    3,151
    Frederick
    They don't have Timber Rattlers out west, they would have had to get them from an eastern state, but they probably didn't. The population is rebounding, most people don't kill them on site anymore and they have population swings that depend on their prey species population swings.
    Timber Rattlers are among the least aggressive rattlers, and rarely strike anyone unless stepped on or messed with, unlike the Copperhead, which may strike at one's leg, for just walking by it. They have a place in Nature's chain and are best just left alone.
     

    ktm rider

    Active Member
    Feb 21, 2011
    748
    Undisclosed and Secure
    . They have a place in Nature's chain and are best just left alone.

    This is easily said if you live in a suburbs and don't have to deal with them in everyday life at home. Horses, dogs, livestock, or worse yet family members with heart conditions., All are very vulnerable to these rattlesnakes and the price for a run in with a one could be in the thousands or much worse.
     

    CrazySanMan

    2013'er
    Mar 4, 2013
    11,390
    Colorful Colorado
    They are everywhere around Colorado, except for the high mountains. All the doors leading outside where I work have signs on them saying "Danger: Watch for Rattlesnakes". People and dogs get bit all the time.

    Here's a Western (or Prairie) rattler that I saw this weekend near Dinosaur, Colorado.



    He was coiled up in the road as I drove by and struck at my FJ several times.
     

    Abuck

    Ultimate Member
    We always leave the black snakes alone, as they seem to keep the other snakes away, besides doing a good job on the local rodent population.

    Years ago when someone killed several black snakes, we ended up having a bunch of rattlesnakes and copperheads around. No fun reaching for something on a wall outside the door, and stopping just short of a copperhead sunning itself.
     

    ted76

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 20, 2013
    3,151
    Frederick
    This is easily said if you live in a suburbs and don't have to deal with them in everyday life at home. Horses, dogs, livestock, or worse yet family members with heart conditions., All are very vulnerable to these rattlesnakes and the price for a run in with a one could be in the thousands or much worse.

    I have been running around in the woods & steams, my whole life and learned at a young age, to look where you walk and carry a snake stick, if going where, that I had greater concern of an encounter, mostly with Copperheads. We had a cabin in the mountains, just East of Front Royal, and it was a rare weekend, during the summer, that someone didn't come across a Copperhead while there. The Copperheads didn't get any pardons, if encountered around the cabin. In all my years running around in the outdoors, I only got struck on my leather boot by a Copperhead, while walking on a narrow trail and it didn't break through the leather.
     

    ktm rider

    Active Member
    Feb 21, 2011
    748
    Undisclosed and Secure
    We always leave the black snakes alone, as they seem to keep the other snakes away, besides doing a good job on the local rodent population.

    Years ago when someone killed several black snakes, we ended up having a bunch of rattlesnakes and copperheads around. No fun reaching for something on a wall outside the door, and stopping just short of a copperhead sunning itself.

    My grandfather always said blacksnakes kill rattlesnakes. That's why he left them alone. I'm not sure if that's true of just an old wives tale but, like you said, they do a great job of rodent control.
     

    fidelity

    piled higher and deeper
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 15, 2012
    22,400
    Frederick County

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