Something is wrong on the mountain. There are places in these granite hills where eastern timber rattlesnakes still bask and congregate. Despite hundreds of years of human fear and ignorance and relentless pressure from illegal poaching, these heavy bodied snakes persist in parts of the Berkshire and Litchfield Hills and in isolated pockets across the northeast Highlands where they are legally protected as state-listed rare species.
But one of the largest dens in our area, a site where it was common only a couple of years ago to find dozens of snakes at a time, is virtually devoid of timber rattlesnakes this year. State wildlife officials and licensed rattlesnake monitors are alarmed that only a couple of snakes have been seen and, what is more disturbing, there are no gravid females. At this time of year, there should be many snakes close to their birthing and denning areas, yet at this superb occurrence the woods are empty and the breeding females are gone.
I have posted before on the fragile relationship between these much maligned serpents and the ecology of this region. Even under the best of circumstances, timber rattlesnakes have poor reproductive success and their populations remain stable. The loss of a reproducing female has a disproportionately large impact on the entire population. Predation and other natural mortality cannot account for the apparent loss of an entire reproductive class of mature individuals within a single population. With persistent searches by conservation authorities yielding the same disappointing results, the only logical explanation is that someone, or a group of individuals, is deliberately depleting this site and removing gravid females.
The network of nuisance rattlesnake responders that works with conservation authorities to monitor den sites in this region has been closely monitoring a known individual with close ties to this area and who has stated his intention of reestablishing timber rattlesnake populations in New Hampshire and Maine. Misguided and illegal tampering with established dens has no basis in conservation science and is without sanction or justification. This individual is offering rewards for information about existing den sites in northern New England where timber rattlesnakes are thought to be extirpated.
Anyone who offers cash for the location of timber rattlesnake populations in states where they are protected rare species, and who is not a fully sanctioned representative of the appropriate state agency with authority for the conservation of this species, is not to be trusted. Anyone who moves a timber rattlesnake without such authority, especially across state lines, is breaking the law. Anyone with any information about such individuals should contact the appropriate law enforcement and conservation authorities.
In the meantime, there is a hole in the heart of the mountain, an absence that most of us will never recognize but is there nonetheless. Whether this site becomes yet another empty den, or remains a sanctuary for these rare snakes, depends on our collective ability to curtail illegal harvesting of gravid females. The species cannot afford a second year like this at this site.