Timber Rattler

This is a Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), the most common venomous snake in Wisconsin. Although the most common....it is not all that common. It has been extirpated in the eastern and northern parts of the state but is abundant, and protected, west of the Wisconsin River. I have spent time looking for them and had difficulty finding them...they are quite secretive. But if you are born in the Coulee Region east of the Mississloppy and spend time walking the bluffs, you learn early on not to step over logs or brush piles without first looking for rattlers. This is especially true in early Spring and late Autumn mornings on the sunny side of the bluffs. Snakes, being poikilothermic, love to warm up in the sun on cold mornings. They can also be found on asphalt roadways in the evening on cold days. The black asphalt holds warmth from daylight heating by the sun and all snakes like to warm themselves there. Sadly, many are killed by automobiles.