Lead Biologist at Land Between the Lakes Andy Radomski said timber rattlesnakes are relatively common throughout western Kentucky but prefer forested or grassland areas “that--and this is probably the key thing--don’t have very much human development.”
Recently, a woman near the Wal-Mart in Murray discovered a rattlesnake under her seat of her motorized wheelchair. Murray Police Department Sergeant Andrew Wiggins said it is not common for the department to receive calls regarding snakes in general and rattlesnake calls are extremely rare. Aside from the call regarding the snake under the wheelchair, Wiggins said he was “not familiar with another time we have been requested to help with them in recent years.”
Radomski said people are most likely to see rattlesnakes during the summer months or during the first warm spell in spring. He said rattlesnakes typically come out and sit up on rocks and black surfaces like pavement to warm up. He said rattlesnakes will be burrowed or slightly underground in other animal dens during colder months.
Radomski said other venomous snakes in west Kentucky include western pygmy rattlesnakes, water moccasins and copperheads. He said these snakes are less common than the non-venomous snakes in the region, including ring snakes and diamond-back water snakes. He said people should behave around snakes as they would around any wild animal.
“If you reach out or you harass the animal it’s more than apt to try to defend itself. Most snakes will try to conceal themselves, they won’t move, or they’ll get out of your way as soon as they feel your vibrations of your foot getting close to them,” he said.
Radomski said people should give snakes a respectful amount of distance and not harass them, handle them or “box them in.”
Radomski said if someone gets bit by a venomous or nonvenomous snake they should seek medical attention because “the mouth of a wild animal has all kinds of bacteria and fungus that’s not typical in our bodies.”
“So if you get bit, try to describe the body of the snake to the medical provider and then definitely get your wound taken care of and have it medically cleaned.”
