Snakes around our property have never caused a great alarm.

From the beginning, we always recognized them as beneficial parts of our environment and not something to be feared or destroyed. We have had a few garter snakes hanging around our fenced in garden all summer and would find them working around different plantings hunting for insects and slugs.

They would be a welcome sight as we knew they were doing us a beneficial task in helping us eliminate garden pests. Along with some small field sparrows and a toad or two hopping around, we had a sound pest control system in place.

The garden isn’t the only place that snakes like to hang out during the summer months. I have often seen them stretched out on sunny paths, country roads and stone walls. Every time that I borrow my brother-in-law’s wheel barrow, I have to be careful not to bother a resident snake that has made his log pile his home. The snake is usually coiled up on a log sunning itself and isn’t too disturbed by my activity with the wood pile.

Black rat snakes are some of the largest snakes in our area and they are likely to be seen by people. Because of their size which can easily be over 4-5 feet, they are often the cause of alarm with people. Unfortunately people can react to destroy this useful snake.

We watched one work an area overrun by chipmunks and I was glad to see it on patrol. It appears that the early boon in chipmunks has been much more under control.

There are very few poisonous snakes in our area, the only two in Butler county that you may run into are the Copperhead and the Massasauga Rattlesnake. Chances of running into either in most of Butler County are near zero, but it does occur if you happen to frequent wetlands and meadows which are natural habitats for these snakes in northern areas of the county.

One of the first times that I ever saw a Massasauga was while fishing along a feeder stream emptying into the Slippery Rock Creek. It was quietly coiled up on a trail and acting very docile, so I gave it a wide berth and it was not too concerned about me.

Recently, I was on the North Branch of the Slippery Rock Creek and ran into two fellows who introduced themselves as environmental consultants. They were on assignment from the PA Department of Transportation to do some biological research about the impact of rebuilding bridges and the effects of the habitat on the Massasauga Rattlesnake.

It turns out that they have a very small habitat area left and the areas that remain include Jennings Environmental Education Center and areas in the watershed of the Slippery Rock Creek areas around Game lands 95.

The eastern massasauga is a small and rather timid timber rattlesnake and is an endangered species in Pennsylvania. They are at the most 18 inches long at full adulthood, but they are still venomous and do not always have a rattle warning.

There are several features commonly used to separate venomous snakes from nonvenomous snakes. There are only 21 species of snakes in Pa. and any snake in our state which has lengthwise stripes or which is uniformly one color is nonvenomous.

Venomous snakes have a somewhat triangular head and only one row of plates on the underside of the tail. They also have a vertically elliptical eye pupil (cat-eyed) while their nonvenomous cousins have round eye pupils.

The eastern massasauga bears its young in August of the year and can have as many as 6-20 youngsters who are able to go on their own rather quickly after live birth. Baby rattlers have button tails which do not rattle, but they are still venomous.

A bite from a massasauga requires medical treatment, is generally not fatal to most healthy adults, but can pose problems for small children and adults with health problems.

Remember that snakes should be respected and not actually feared. Ignorance and fear of snakes has always turned out poorly for snakes. Many people destroy snakes out of the fear that is not logically based.

If you come in contact with a snake that you feel could be an eastern massasauga, you can contact Mr. B. Scott Fiegel@oal.com or call 484-280-4312 to relay your information.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle