Hi John,
I was really delighted that you wanted to help the rattler get off the
road. Snakes are too often deliberately run over by people who fear them so
much that they kill them needlessly.
I wanted to mention that the best way to help a large snake get off the
road is to walk away after you've looked at it from a safe distance (at least
twice as many feet away as the snake is long). Snakes typically "freeze"
when approached--it's their way of trying to camouflage themselves. They
hope if they stay still, they won't be noticed. Thus they may not move if
you remain right there.
However, if you walk away, they typically vamoose because they are scared
of you.
I should also say that it's dangerous to touch a venomous snake. The
rattling of the tail was a warning that you should leave so it wouldn't have to
attack to defend itself. Snakes don't really want to interact with a
bigger animal (please don't take this personally!) as they are well aware that
smaller animals usually lose in encounters with larger ones.
I was also thrilled that you found a Wood Turtle. These animals are a
rare find these days. I believe it is on the Virginia State Threatened list.
Thanks so much for sharing your non-avian observations!
Gratefully,
Marlene
Marlene A. Condon (Author, The Nature-friendly Garden, Stackpole Books)
Naturalist and Writer/Photographer/Speaker
Crozet, VA 22932-2204
E-mail: MARLENECONDON@xxxxxxx
_www.MARLENECONDON.com_ (http://www.marlenecondon.com/)
In a message dated 6/8/2011 2:26:48 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
jspahr@xxxxxxxxx writes:
Had a beautiful morning for a BBS route which spans 3 counties --
Shenandoah,
Page and Rockingham. Starts @ Edinburg Gap and finishes on Cub Run Road
near
Runkles Gap. This is an interrupted ridge route mostly through National
Forest
with elevations between 1500 - 2500 ft. Nothing out of the ordinary
bird-wise.
Carolina Wrens were remarkably absent and I had few raptors; lotsa
Ovenbirds!
Highlights included a Wild Turkey Hen with a dozen chicks, scurrying
within a
shotgun length of the car. My favorite encounter was a 2 foot long
beautiful
Timber Rattlesnake with a 5 button rattle, which it started to shake as I
tried
to gently nudge it off the road. I also moved an Eastern Box Turtle and a
Wood
Turtle off the road. I remember Wood Turtles from my childhood days in PA
and
this is my first in VA.
John Spahr
Staunton & New Hampden, VA
Location: BBS 88903, New Market
Observation date: 6/8/11
Notes: BBS #88903
Number of species: 46
Wild Turkey 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Broad-winged Hawk 2
Mourning Dove 6
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 5
Barred Owl 1
Eastern Whip-poor-will 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 13
Acadian Flycatcher 20
Eastern Phoebe 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 7
Red-eyed Vireo 67
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 50
Fish Crow 2
Common Raven 2
Carolina Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 34
White-breasted Nuthatch 8
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 11
Eastern Bluebird 1
Wood Thrush 5
American Robin 5
Gray Catbird 1
Brown Thrasher 1
Cedar Waxwing 2
Northern Parula 1
Pine Warbler 3
Prairie Warbler 1
American Redstart 3
Worm-eating Warbler 5
Ovenbird 60
Louisiana Waterthrush 2
Hooded Warbler 6
Eastern Towhee 14
Chipping Sparrow 7
Scarlet Tanager 19
Northern Cardinal 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 15
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
American Goldfinch 9
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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