Palmyra Cove hosts program on timber rattlesnakes
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
You know it always saddens me how little the general public is aware of the importance and beauty of timber rattlesnakes, or for that matter, snakes in general. I think most people think of the aggressive western diamond backs when they think of rattlesnakes and are not aware of the mostly benign nature of our indigenious residents. Perhaps the saddest misconception is that the common watersnakes are actually water moccasins. It seems as though these snakes are killed ruthlessly.
It does seem as though an effort has been made by some organizations ( the PPA and Woodford Wildlife Refudge come to mind) to educate the public on the true nature of these animals. Hopefully it does some good. I've met people who I really thought would have known better, speak of snakes as nothing more than vermin. If maybe 5 to 10 minutes a year was dedicated to this in the nj public schools, I bet there would be far fewer incidents of senseless snake killing.
Truth is, I have no idea how many endangered snakes, or otherwise, are actually killed by humans annually. How could you even begin to determine such a thing? It is feasible that in a species as limited and delicate as the timber rattlesnakes of south Jersey, such actions might be enough to impact negitively on the population.
Jeff
It does seem as though an effort has been made by some organizations ( the PPA and Woodford Wildlife Refudge come to mind) to educate the public on the true nature of these animals. Hopefully it does some good. I've met people who I really thought would have known better, speak of snakes as nothing more than vermin. If maybe 5 to 10 minutes a year was dedicated to this in the nj public schools, I bet there would be far fewer incidents of senseless snake killing.
Truth is, I have no idea how many endangered snakes, or otherwise, are actually killed by humans annually. How could you even begin to determine such a thing? It is feasible that in a species as limited and delicate as the timber rattlesnakes of south Jersey, such actions might be enough to impact negitively on the population.
Jeff