For thousands of years, Timber Rattlesnakes have lived and hunted in one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, the Appalachians. They are one of the few remaining top predators surviving in the Appalachians and the greatest remaining icon for the wild places that still exist in Eastern North America. However, every year Appalachian Timber Rattlesnakes move closer towards extinction as snakes are killed and their distribution continues to shrink. Timber Rattlesnakes are important; they are important as predators of small mammals and have played a prominent role in cultural and religious heritage of the Appalachian region. Just over 200 years ago the timber rattlesnake was used as an icon for our independence during the American Revolution occurring on flags with the saying “Don’t Tread on Me”. Timber Rattlesnakes have already gone extinct in Maine and Rhode Island and only one population remains in New Hampshire. They are protected in many of the Appalachian states but their populations continue to decline. To prevent the disappearance of the last remaining iconic predator of our Eastern Forests, we need to act now. 

The Orianne Society, in Partnership with the IUCN Viper Specialist Group, is beginning a focal initiative with the goals of preventing further declines and promoting recovery of Timber Rattlesnakes in the Appalachian Region. We have decided to initially focus in two areas; the Northern Appalachians where the Timber Rattlesnake is critically endangered and in the Southern Appalachians where they are rare and declining rapidly but there is little to no protection of the species by local governments.

Projects The Orianne Society is currently implementing include:

Northern Appalachian Conservation Planning Project

Despite being the northern most location where Timber Rattlesnakes occur, the Northern Appalachians contain some high density rattlesnake populations. We are currently conducting field studies to determine the most important habitats for Timber Rattlesnakes and developing strategies for protecting those habitats.

Preserving a Conservation Legacy

Dr. William Brown (Emeritus Professor from Skidmore College) has collected the largest datasets on Timber Rattlesnakes and one of the largest datasets in the world. He has studied populations in New York for over 30 years. Dr. Brown has location names for every snake encounter but has never recorded any spatial information on his snake captures. In an effort to preserve one of the largest rattlesnake data sets in the world, The Orianne Society is working with Dr. Brown to record GPS data (i.e., location data) for each of his over 4000 snake encounters. We will then work with him to conduct a spatial analysis of the dataset and use the results for prioritizing rattlesnake conservation in the region.

Northern Appalachian Reintroductions

There are many locations where Timber Rattlesnakes have long ago gone extinct but the forest has recovered or the area is now protected from direct human persecution. We believe that we can work with local communities to find a solution where communities can live side by side with rattlesnakes. We are beginning plans to conduct experimental reintroductions of Timber Rattlesnakes to areas where they have disappeared in the Northern Appalachians.