What’s the Orianne Society’s position on wind turbines? It seems like they’re blasting roads through every mountain in Appalachia to put the massive wind turbine projects on the ridges. That’s wiping out the rocky ledges that are denning sites for many species of snakes.
The biggest threat to timber rattler habitat in my area are these massive wind turbine projects they’re trying to put on the ridges of every mountain in Appalachia. What’s your position on that?
The part at the end accusing Appalachian people of having ignorant myths about snakes is condescending and blatant gaslighting. Fearing nonvenomous snakes is unjustified. Fearing venomous snakes is prudent. So, land owners are supposed to tolerate a deadly threat that can maim them or kill their children and pets because you think they’re cool? It’s not even a matter of cruelty because one rattlesnake kills many sentient mammals like squirrels and mice in a painful and terrifying manner. It’s not a matter of species preservation because Crotalus horridus’s conservation status is “Least Concern”. You sit in your city apartments and tell rural people we’re supposed to tolerate rattlesnakes in our yards. Okay, let’s put them in all the city parks that were once part of their habitats and see how you like them. And before you start calling me an ignoramus, I’m a biologist. I’m just a biologist who has lived in rural areas my whole life, not in a city just watching nature on television. I own 117 acres of Appalachia that I bought simply to preserve a natural area. I don’t even have a house on that land. I don’t cut timber on it. I just camp and run trail cameras and enjoy the bears and bobcats who don’t have to worry about being hunted as long as I own the land. So I’ve put more money into conservation than you can dream of. That said, I don’t see the point of a program that’s goal is to increase the population of a venomous snake that isn’t even endangered.
Thank you very much for the useful information. I wish there were more videos like this. People are merciless to animals, often because of common myths.
Good doc, I wish you touched on how important these Timbers are from spreading disease like lyme disease and rocky mnt spotted fever from tick bites, these snakes eats thousands of rodents a year which carry these disease born ticks, the timbers digest and kills thousands of these ticks from the rodents, without these snakes diseases would spread.
This is cool! I'm looking forward to getting my hands on one of these data loggers to monitor a vernal pool as a community science volunteer with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. The pools up here support wood frogs, spotted salamanders, and sometimes Jefferson or blue-spotted salamanders. And a few of them contain fairy shrimp.
Very pleased to see this research project being started. I've been concerned about the conservation of these salamanders since encountering them 40 years ago as a zoology student at UF.
Massasauga in PA? Where I live, we have all the poisonous snakes in the US except for the western varieties of rattlers. People 'round these parts murder any snake they come in contact with, but I do not. I leave them alone. Most of the time, the copperheads and cane breaks (timber rattlers) are just moving on. I do not longer have a surplus of squirrels and chipmunks. Just hafta be wary that rattlers, cotton mouth, corals and timbers could be in the yard at any time. I don't keep chickens, so no worries with foxes in the yard, or coyotes, either. These guys also take care of the rodent populations. I do, however, have to keep an eye out for my Chihuahuas who do not get let out on their own. A big red tail hawk could pick one of them up, lol. 'Tis true.
I just found the Orianne Society and these awesome videos, especially these field notebook updates from Ben Stegenga. I was in heaven watching them, appreciate them so much, thank you, Ben! I am in awe of all the work you do and commitment to this project to get to the fun highlights that you show us in the videos. Thank you for the extra work you go to in making and uploading these videos on TOP of the work of monitoring itself!
Excellent production! I've had the opportunity to find many, many rattlesnakes throughout my life in places like Arizona, Florida and the Northeast. The timber rattlesnakes of the Northeast seem to be, by far, the least agitated when encountered. Sometimes, they seem almost docile when encountered on a trail.
A couple things I wanted to share based on an encounter with a timber rattlesnake. 1) They're very nonaggressive, almost to a fault. You can accidentally get way too close before they'll even start to rattle. They seem to strongly prefer lying still until the last second. 2) Their rattle is well depicted here (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sa-oOSUFfBs.html). It sounds quite different from the western diamondbacks you hear in the movies. It's fast and high-pitched, almost like a cicada. I didn't even realize what it was when I first heard it.
“Snakes don’t hibernate to stay warm, they hibernate so they don’t freeze, and there’s a big difference…” No, no there isn’t. They want to stay warm enough they don’t freeze, it’s not complicated.
Good video, but you lost the plot when you were pretending people's fear of rattlesnakes is somehow inspired by indiana jones and mythology. They fear rattlesnakes because they're realistically the most dangerous animal you'll encounter in the woods for the vast majority of the Appalachian range. Thousands of people get by bit by rattlesnakes each year and they can be fatal without medical treatment. They're a dangerous wild animal and getting bit by one cause you stepped over a log is going to be a super bad day, regardless of folkstories about hoop snakes.
Now YOU are showing your ignorance. How did YOU learn to fear snakes? Your relatives saying how deadly they are? Did they tell you the only good snake is a dead one, by chance? Did you also have a constant rodent problem? Those movies are created for sensationalism and use a fear factor that is ingrained in the population through misinformation. There are on average less than 5 deaths a year from all venomous snakes in the US. They can’t eat you. They don’t want anything to do with you, but their habitat shrinks on a daily basis. They only strike when they feel threatened. They eat thousands of disease-carrying insects along with those rodents every year. Learn to step ON the log, not over it, because you understand that those logs are common trails for rodents which the snake is hunting. If you can’t learn to respect them and give them a chance to live and contribute to the ecosystem, your progeny will suffer the consequences.
how come the fire is less common now than it would have been in a natural setting? is it a local effect of climate change, or something to do with man-made fragmentation? thanks for the film! cool infos
I love running into Rattlesnakes here in the mountains of PA. They've really made a comeback here. I see several a year now and always stop if I see them in the road to make sure they move and won't get run over. I've moved several back into the woods that have showed up in my parent's yard over the last few years. They are beautiful highly misunderstood creatures. I always try to help people see the beauty in them and help them understand how important they are. Thank you for this great video!
Same, in south central PA, These snakes are just not hostile and their effective strike range is less than four feet. You can get some awesome pictures at very low risk to yourself, especially with modern zoom lenses. I've seen many of them in the wild and they don't... come at you, bro. That's not how they do. I was surprised at the number of copperheads in this video, though.
There's a small mammal making a hot-footed escape at (4:17). Hope he made it out alright. It would seem these smaller controlled burns would be easier on the wildlife than a superheated wall of natural fire would be.
We noticed that too! Looks like a small rabbit. Yes, while individual animals are occasionally injured, the species native to the longleaf pine ecosystem are adapted to fires - they flee or take cover in places like Gopher Tortoise burrows while the low and slow fires pass through. The overall benefit to the habitat is also far greater, burning off invasive shrubs and trees and allowing sunlight to reach the forest floor, letting native grasses and flowers flourish.
Yeah, that was very jarring and a real disappointment in an otherwise great documentary. Besides the wealth of historical photos and art in the public domain, there are tons of talented artists doing absolutely beautiful work in Appalachia. I'm sure they would've loved the chance to share their art. Craft and art is such an integral part of Appalachian culture, so it was a particular letdown to see soulless images generated by exploitative tech companies included. Art is human.
How many idiotic comments are you going to make on this video? Just because you don't realize the beauty and importance of these snakes doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
@@CandysCritters no, YOU missed EVERYTHING. He compared someone having a bald eagle on the wall of their house and people being upset about that BUT those same people NOT caring if there is a dead snake mounted on the wall. Comparing the fondness of the two by people as if the average person thinks they’re equal. Try again by hitting this 19:40.
Losing the chestnut tree is sad and devastating. Losing these venomous hell creatures that will financially break you if you have a bad encounter would be a reason to rejoice. We have plenty of non-venomous ones that can eat the 🐁.
Taking any one species out of the picture, whether it is venomous or not, will throw a huge kink into the ecology of an area. We humans simply need to learn to live with ALL wildlife. If we don’t, the consequences will be disastrous.
@@CandysCritters you believing that if we lost the timber rattler to extinction it would be devastating to ANY environment shows you have a delusional grasp on the subject. What exactly does it do that all the non venomous snakes can’t do? Please answer.. Would people be upset that it went extinct yes but it’s not because it would be disastrous to the environment. 🤣 What IS disastrous is what happens to your body and your bank account when you get struck by one. Thanks for the chuckle. 😆
The only issue is when groups that are educated beyond their intelligence think its a great idea to reintroduce poisonous snakes into a public park that is frequented by children. Everyone loves the snakes until one puts your 5 year old in the hospital.
