Mid-August in the Deep South is hot and muggy, so we wanted to get an early start to our hike. This morning we were going to flip some boards before the sun made conditions too hot for anything to utilize them as cover.
Across a dirt road where a forest of oak, pine, and magnolia borders an old field is where we began our search. Our starting point was an 8×4 sheet of plywood that had been left behind by hunters or property owners, which we had conveniently tucked a little closer to the wood line.
Using a hook, we gently raised one side of the board and, in a low depression, coiled tightly, was a large female “canebrake” rattlesnake.
I call it a canebrake rattlesnake because until the 1970s the southern form was considered a subspecies, Crotalus horridus atricaudatus. We now know that they are just a southern color variant.
We had flipped this girl at this spot about two months prior, but now, because she was still here, we guessed that it was because she was gravid. Well, at this point, we could clearly see that she was gravid.
The timber rattlesnake Crotalus horridus has a wide distribution in the United States, and although some populations in the midwest and the northeast are in decline, they are still abundant in undisturbed habitat here in the southeast. We want to keep it that way so, after a few photographs, we slowly lowered the board and left her as undisturbed as possible.
We checked the sight one more time in October, but by that time she was long gone. Hopefully we will see her again at this spot. …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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