Timber Rattlesnake ecology

 

Small Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) from which we collected data last summer.

An update from John (M.S. Student at Murray State University):

“Crotalus horridus” so named by the great Swedish naturalist, Carl Linnaeus, in 1758 for its “scaly texture” (horridus) is anything but horrid. These animals are of value not just in terms of the ecosystem services they provide but as part of our irreplaceable natural heritage. They are worthy of our admiration, they are deserving of our protection and I am a tireless advocate for them.

Timber rattlesnake numbers have declined across their native range largely due to habitat loss and direct persecution by humans. For example, in the northeastern United States bounty systems were put in place in some states where rewards were paid to people who killed Timber rattlesnakes. However, these animals now face a new threat. In 2006, ironically the same year that the first cases of White-nosed syndrome ( Pseudogymnoascus destructans) in North American bats were detected, a newly emerging fungal disease, Snake Fungal Disease, or SFD ( Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola) in snakes was identified in a Timber rattlesnake population in New Hampshire. This piece of our natural heritage is irreplaceable.

 

A gravid female Timber rattlesnake we call "Sally" that has been a part of my study since the spring of 2018.

My research is at the interface of physiology (endocrinology), wildlife disease epidemiology, and ecology. Specifically I study how stress physiology affects disease susceptibility and behavioral ecology with methods ranging from radio-telemetry to molecular techniques.