Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
Maine is currently one of the only states in the lower 48 that is not home to rattlesnakes, though it wasn’t always this way. The impressive Timber Rattlesnake used to be found in the rugged mountains of Western Maine, though likely always in very low numbers. Timber Rattlesnakes are venomous predators of small mammals such as shrews, mice, rats, squirrels, and rabbits, though their powerful bites can kill humans. Rattlesnakes were extirpated from Maine probably before the turn of the 20th century.
https://maineaudubon.org/news/5-creatures-you-may-not-know-used-to-live-in-maine/
Interesting. Thanks. Wonder if the shorter season for them had something to do with their low numbers to begin with
I’ve no fondness for snakes. Visiting relatives in VA one summer when I was about 12 we went to a swimming hole on the Goshen River. This kid about my age started screaming like crazy out in the slow moving water. He got into a nest of Water Moccasins. Didn’t make it. Nobody dared try to save him. That fuk’d my head up for snakes. You can imagine my terror when I came across that nest of rattlers.
Wow. That's terrible! I can't imagine the feeling of helplessness while the kid was screaming. The only safe way to get him would've been with a boat or canoe, which probably wasn't handy. I can understand seeing that as a kid probably caused many nightmares ... and respect for the harm they can cause.
It was horrible. No boats, not even a tube. It was a calm spot in the river so you could see the snakes boiling up around him a good forty feet out. When Rescue came they brought a John boat and fished him out with a pole about a hundred yards downstream. Poor kid, what a horrifying way to go. Hell, it was horrifying to witness.
Some years later when Lonesome Dove came out their was that scene when crossing the Red River a young cowboy got caught up in a nest of those bastards. That didn’t help none in forgetting about what I’d seen. Yeah buddy, snakes terrify my ass!
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