Snake experts offer advice on snake encounters, hunting rattlesnakes in Pa.

Pennsylvania has a strong population of rattlesnakes for those who are getting ready to look for them this summer.

“In general, snakes, I think, are up early this year,” Christopher Urban, chief Natural Diversity Section Nongame, threatened and endangered species coordinator for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, said.

Garter snakes have been active for more than a month. Rattlesnakes have been moving, too.

“I think they’ve come up early with the temperatures that were elevated and they have been moving early this year from hibernacula. On warm years, when the temperatures are right, you get this flux of animals that come out,” he said.

When talking about the overall population of timber rattlesnakes, Urban said, “It’s changed a lot over time. The current state is good. I think there’s a good population, it’s a recovering population,” he said.

The Fish and Boat Commission sells permits to those who want to hunt snakes.

“We get approximately 2,000 hunters a year that are out hunting snakes. A lot of those folks don’t actually take snakes, they just observe them, they take pictures of them, they may handle them, and legally you need a permit to do that,” he said.

To hunt rattlesnakes during the agency’s June 8 to July 31 season, participants must have a fishing license which is $27.97 for residents of Pennsylvania and a venomous snake permit which costs $31.97 for residents each year.

“The population is doing well; there was a time it wasn’t,” Urban said. “It went from a nuisance species where people were exploiting them and trying to get rid of them because they were all over the place and people were concerned about being bitten,” he said.

Over time with some regulation and management of the animal, the population has come back. The harvest limit was changed from two to one snake and then to only large males that are at least 42 inches long. The change protected the female and juvenile reptiles.

“If you want to protect a wildlife population, that’s what you do, you protect the females and the young and you’ll start to see population recover pretty quickly and that’s what’s going on,” he said about rattlesnakes.

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Handling venomous snakes

Urban recommends snake hunters to use snake sticks and tongs to pick up the reptiles from the middle third of their length.

“Just be careful and don’t squeeze the heck out of them because you’re going to hurt its internal organs. If you are gentle with them, they are usually pretty gentle in response, but not always,” he said.

When it comes to venomous snakes, it’s imperative to watch the snake’s head.

“Treat the head sort of like it’s a loaded gun, that’s where the venom is going to be coming from its jaws and mouth and they strike so quickly,” he said.

He encourages hunters to leave the snakes where they found them instead of killing one or taking one home alive.

“When you have them, they just want to move and go,” he said.

Some people keep them for a short time to study and observe them and then return them to the place they were caught in their home range.

“We’re one of the few states that allow that,” he said about the public being able to keep a live rattlesnake.

Ken Ash, 57, of Hopewell, Beaver County, has been hunting snakes for about 40 years.

“It’s like a weird adult Easter egg hunt,” Ash said about finding snakes in the wilderness.

“I enjoy seeing a part of something that’s native to Penn’s Woods that not a lot of people get to see in its natural habitat,” Ash said.

Snakes are not abundant and easy to find unless you know where to go. He travels to central Pennsylvania to look for rattlesnakes as there aren’t any in his home county.

“It’s another reason to get outdoors and see things,” he said, adding that he takes his son Cole along on some of the adventures.

“I’ve got to see black bears, grouse, young deer, eagles and different terrain as I travel across Pennsylvania and meet different people,” Ash said.

Ash takes a hook and a pair of long tongs to pick up or move a snake. People also use clear tubes similar to what a long fluorescent light bulb looks like to put the head of the snake in while handling them.

The thrill is in finding a snake and just letting them go on their way. “I take a picture of it, it’s awesome,” he said.

“I have no desire to eat one,” he said the sport not being about killing reptiles. He doesn’t disrespect anyone who does eat them, but said, “For the cost of the license and the permit, you could buy a nice filet mignon.”

Ash does have two snakes in captivity at his home and he built a large viewing terrarium for them. In the summer they are in a place where they have logs and rocks to crawl under and also experience the daylight. “They are living a happy life,” he said it being a safe area where they get everything they need.

He enjoys looking for them in the wild and watching them.

“Every time I find one, it’s a sign that they are still there, they are out there that they are surviving and thriving,” he said. At one time snakes were hated and killed out of fear. “To be able to go out and see these creatures, to me, it’s just like a little win every time,” Ash said.

Looking for timber rattlesnakes

If you’re looking for timber rattlesnakes, Urban recommends southern-facing slopes that receive the morning sun. The sun will warm the area earlier in the day and snakes will bask on the rock outcrops.

Right now the snakes are moving from their wintering areas to their summer areas that get at least eight hours of light each day. Open areas in the woods and utility rights-of-way areas are attractive to snakes as they receive direct sunlight.

Timber rattlesnakes can be found in most of Pennsylvania except the far northwestern and southeastern parts of the state.

“They are in 51 of our 67 counties,” Urban said.

“Clearfield, Elk County, Clinton, Potter, those northern counties are probably our highest frequency hunting areas and also that’s where the big density of snakes are — the northern counties and that extends over to the far eastern part of the state, too,” Urban said.

The snakes enjoy the Allegheny Plateau and other open areas.

“It grades all the way over to the Pocono Plateau where it’s a high elevation already and you find snakes up on those knobs and open areas. They are fairly abundant in certain areas and other areas, they are not doing so great and they are kind of on the end of their range,” he said.

Challenges for snake survival

An adult male can move as much as six miles from its denning location, but it’s more typical that they move two or three miles. “That’s a big range for a large reptile and they are usually crossing roads and putting themselves in harm’s way,” Urban said.

In addition to being hit by cars, they end up in people’s yards where they are not always welcome.

“People see them as a threat and dispatch them. Legally you can do that if there is some threat to life or limb, but I would argue that almost never happens. By nature, they are really docile,” he said. “Of our 21 snake species, (rattlesnakes) are one of the more docile animals. They are misunderstood that way, most people think they are aggressive and they have that stern look to them, like a bald eagle does, they look like they’re almost angry. People think they’re mean and they’re not, that’s just their look,” he said about some people being afraid of them.

People spend time in the outdoors and never notice snakes that could be close to them.

“They’re hidden in the landscape, they are camouflaged very well. Their colors camouflage and man they can be invisible,” Urban said.

The snakes don’t always vibrate their tails to make the rattle sound and are often quiet when people are near.

“If you get really close, sometimes they will rattle,” he said. “They look at us as a predator and now they are warning you not to come any closer. They don’t want to bite and when they do bite, a fairly high percentage of the time it’s a dry bite, it’s kind of a warning bite.

“If you start to fuss with them, they are going to get angry and annoyed and they are going to pack venom in their next bite. You got to just leave them alone."

“If you are hiking and seeing them in a field, stay three to four feet away from them,” Urban said.

People like to look at the snakes and take photos of them. “It’s cool to see them in the wild,” he said.

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Why snakes are important

Snakes have an ecological function on the landscape regarding pest control. “They eat mice and rodents. They help control the populations of rodents out in Penn’s Woods. They are good to have around and I mean all snakes,” he said. Some species eat bugs and insects.

Common garter snakes mostly eat worms, spiders, grubs and bugs but they will also eat mice, toads and frogs. “They are good to have around,” he said.

Black rat snakes are also good for rodent control. “They can be big, kind of intimidating when you see them, but really they are just hunting rodents, that’s what they do,” he said. They are better than cats in getting rodents because they can slip into small places where cats can’t reach vermin.

The agency does receive calls from the general public about snakes and having them removed. Urban said they try to educate people about the value of snakes, but the staff will remove them if necessary.

Urban said if someone needs help identifying a snake they can visit paherps.com to see the variety of snakes that are in Pennsylvania and learn more about each species.

People can move unwanted snakes by sliding them in a bucket or trash can and then releasing them in a nearby wooded area. “That encounter is usually so scary to (the snake) that they won’t come back,” he said.

“One other successful way to keep snakes off your property is to hose it, and put cold water on it. They don’t like cold water,” Urban said. “If you hit them with water, they will move away.”

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors, and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Where do rattlesnakes live in Pennsylvania?