Snakes are social, expert says

By DUANE NOLLEN
The Oskaloosa Herald

OSKALOOSA June 30, 2008 03:01 pm

— Nick Blay is fascinated with snakes and he brought a couple of his scaly friends with him when he gave a presentation about snakes at White Oak Conservation Area Saturday evening.
Blay is the founder of the Iowa Pit Viper Coalition, which is an organization to educate people about snakes.
“I’ve always been fascinated by anything with scales,” Blay said during his presentation.
He recently graduated from Simpson College, where he earned a biology degree, and he plans to pursue a master’s degree in natural resources at a college in Wisconsin.
Blay says rattlesnakes have been misunderstood. He has worked with timber rattlesnakes for the past three to four years.
“Rattlesnakes are social animals,” he said.
He held a baby timber rattlesnake during his presentation, and it only briefly rattled her tale when he first picked her up. She then settled down and let Blay hold her without a fuss.
“They have declined,” Blay said. That is mostly due to the loss of habitat.
Blay has studied rattlesnakes around Winterset where urban areas are encroaching on their habitat. He has wanted to relocate the timber rattlesnakes, but it has proven to not be feasible.
Blay said that timber rattlesnakes are born away from their den site. But, once they are old enough to find their way to a den and stay there for a winter, they claim that spot as their home and don’t move away.
Blay said researchers believe that the babies follow a scent trail to the den. He has conducted research to see if that is the case. In a study of 48 babies, half follow their mothers to the den and half did not. He said researchers believe there is an imprint period where babies bond with their mothers for the first seven to 10 days of life.
Blay said there are only four kinds of venomous snakes in Iowa — the copperhead, the prairie rattlesnake, the Massasauga rattlesnake and the timber rattlesnake. He said copperheads are found in only one site in the state. Prairie rattlesnakes are found in only one small site in northwest Iowa. Massasauga rattlesnakes are found in only three state-managed marshes in Iowa and timber rattlesnakes are the most common of the four.
Blay said timber rattlesnakes like to live in limestone out crops.
“The Des Moines River valley has suitable habitat for timber rattlesnakes,” Blay said. Blay added that he has a “hard lead” on a site in Marion County where timber rattlesnakes may live.
Blay had some snakes to show to the audience.
He held a Northern Water Snake for people to see. If you see a snake while fishing or boating, it’s likely a Northern Water Snake.
“He’s really grumpy,” Blay said of his Northern Water Snake.
Northern Water Snakes are found in the southern two-thirds of the state. They have many teeth, because they hunt fish. They have an anti-coagulant in their saliva, and they emit a musk — so they don’t smell good, Blay said.
Blay also had a Fox Snake that many people have mistaken for a rattlesnake.
There are five differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes.
Non-venomous snakes are long, slender and lean while venomous snakes are thick and heavy bodied, he said. Non-venomous snakes do not have a neck while venomous snakes have a triangular head and a neck. Venomous snakes have rough scales while non-venomous snakes have smooth scales. Venomous snakes have a rattle while non-venomous ones do not. Finally, pit vipers — rattlesnakes — have a pit between their eye and nose that acts as a heat sensor to find prey, Blay said.
Blay said rattlesnakes must be protected because all animals have their place in the environment. Snakes eat rodents while snakes also provide food for animals such as hawks.
Blay has never been bitten by a rattlesnake.
“I never plan on being bitten. ... I take every precaution,” he said.
Blay said if you are bitten by a timber rattlesnake, go to the hospital. But a timber rattlesnake’s venom is not as bad as an Eastern- or Western-diamondback.
Herald Editor Duane Nollen can be reached by email at oskynews@oskyherald.com

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