See a rattlesnake in this photo? It’s proof how easily they blend into Alabama woods
Rattlesnakes can be sneaky and the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division proved it this week by sharing an unnerving photo on Facebook of a close encounter.
It showed a staff member standing by a large oak in Barbour Wildlife Management Area, posing the question: “Can you spot the animal that our staff encountered today?”
Dozens of people responded, many guessing there was a snake somewhere in the tree. But they were looking in the wrong direction, the division said.
“Some of you are looking too hard at the vines and bark and not hard enough at the timber rattlesnake at the base of the tree!” the division eventually noted.
To prove it, the department enhanced one corner of the photo and reposted it. The image showed a well camouflaged rattlesnake coiled at the base of the tree, about three feet from the division staffer’s foot. The man is shown looking in another direction, so it wasn’t clear if he was aware of the snake at the time.
“I would have already gotten bit!” Gil Howell posted on the division’s Facebook page.
“I guess we would have been bitten,” David Heim added.
Barbour Wildlife Management Area, about 75 miles southeast of Montgomery, is 7,218 acres of hardwood and pine that is perfect turf for timber rattlesnakes, also known as canebrake rattlesnakes.
“They are a fairly large snake, reaching lengths up to 6 feet,” according to the Alabama A&M & Auburn Universities Extension Service. “Their coloration makes it hard to detect them in forested areas.”
There are six venomous snakes in Alabama, but deaths from bites are uncommon in the state, the extension says.
“Like other vipers, the timber rattlesnake is venomous with venom potent enough to kill a human,” the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute reports. “A timber rattlesnake bite is a medical emergency. However, timber rattlesnake bites are rare.”
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 2:22 PM with the headline "See a rattlesnake in this photo? It’s proof how easily they blend into Alabama woods."