By Tim Rowland
Split Rock Mountain on Lake Champlain in the Town of Essex is well-known for its rattlesnakes. But not this many rattlesnakes.
“It’s been a little unnerving this year,” said Chris DePinto, who said there have been 11 sightings near his home on Albee Lane, a short spur that runs along Whallons Bay.
A landscaper and town board member, DePinto said he’s no stranger to rattlers, but in his five years on the road he’s never seen it like this.
The pestilence comes on top of an unprecedented outbreak of gypsy moths, which have largely denuded local mountains and forced picnickers indoors to avoid a caterpillar rain. And two years before this, it was ticks.
Split Rock Mountain offers some of the best four-season hiking on the Adirondack Coast. There are some great views to all points of the compass, sheer cliffs, attractive stands of hemlock and Split Rock Mountain’s distinctive namesake, a small, offshore outcropping that once marked the line between Algonquin and Iroquois and later, French and British — a boundary that none of the four paid any particular attention to.
Split Rock is the eastern terminus of the Split Rock Wildway, a forested corridor that connects Lake Champlain with the High Peaks, offering protected passage to animals venturing on their traditional migratory routes. There are 12 miles of hiking trails passing by descriptively named landmarks that include Grog Bay, Ore Bed Point and, cue the ominous music, Snake Den Harbor.
“We could probably go up there on any warm day and find one,” said Bill Amadon, trail steward for Champlain Area Trails in Westport. “June is about the time they really start to show up.”
READ MORE about the gypsy moth caterpillar outbreak in parts of the Adirondacks
Rattlesnakes are uncommon in the Adirondacks — and designated a “threatened” species — and mainly are found in the lakeside rock formations. “They don’t go much further west,” Amadon said. But stretched out, “they can take up a full travel lane on a road.” Their warning call is less of a rattle than a buzz, and they appear as mostly black, but thicker than a blacksnake with a wider head and of course those signature buttons on the tail.
Bounties were once offered on timber rattlers, and their dens dynamited, Amadon said. Today the snakes are protected; there are two known dens, but their location is kept under wraps since humans can’t always be trusted. Timber rattlesnakes can also be found around Lake George and other parts of Warren County, such as this one that surprised visitors last summer.
DePinto said long-time residents have commented on the unusual number of sightings, with a wide range of theories as to why. Some believe climate change has made it more hospitable for the reptiles, while the herds of hooved farm animals that would kill them are gone.
The snakes have also been a social media sensation. DePinto and his wife, Lexi Noble DePinto, were having breakfast early one morning when they saw a shape moving through the water 150 feet off shore. “Somehow I picked up on the serpentine shape and I said, ‘I think that’s a snake,’” he said.
Thanks to Facebook video, it became the most famous Adirondack snake with over 350 shares and 10,000 views as of Thursday morning. But a rattler dropping by for breakfast is a little more intense than a gypsy-moth caterpillar dropping onto your cupcake, and residents — particularly those with dogs — are having the reptiles escorted back toward their rocky homes. “A friend here is permitted and has the tools to move them,” DePinto said. “Moving them sure gets the heart rate going.”
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I wouldn’t consider rattlesnakes a “pestilence”. They are natural predators here and have every right to increase their numbers after our history of illogical and cruel treatment of them in the not-so-distant past. Many people still kill every snake they see, regardless of species. It has been a long time since we shared caves with them, so we should revamp our thinking of their role in nature.
Want to reduce ticks? Keep the rodent numbers in check. Over the last 50 years we have relaxed our war on raptors and in many cases their numbers have rebounded. We need to be just as strong in our conviction to allow reptiles and amphibians their space. If you see a snake, don’t react bey running for the shovel. As long as it doesn’t rattle, admire it and allow it to do its thing undisturbed. If it does rattle, admire it from a distance. It knows you are not supper.
Sorry to keep replying to you a lot lately Boreas but just want to 110% endorse this comment!
Thank Plumb Island “research” lab for the tic problem. Lyme disease, and now Powassan virus both came from their “secret” nazi research lab off the shoreline of NY. Dropped from airplanes at night by the thousands over the NY & PA borders to test the spread of these diseases on the unsuspecting populace. Your tax dollars at work. Bill and Melinda Gates foundation funded too.
Drum roll for an unpopular opinion…. Snakes are good! Predators are essential for a healthy ecosystem and I cannot endorse more strongly Boreas’s above point that rodents really really contribute to Lyme and many other tick borne diseases. The rattlers are probably having a good year due to some natural phenomenon. Best just give them some space and let nature take care of them.
We came within 6 feet of a surprise rattler on trail in northern NJ, and he was NOT happy to see us. Gave a very clear warning. He skedaddled as soon as we stopped moving. We gave him a full 10 mins to move along. Everyone walked away happy 🙂
Thank you. All snakes play a vital role in controlling the rodent population which carry ticks and other diseases. Leave snakes alone, people.
You keep them out of my yard… That will be the only way they will live. Because if I see one. Then it soon will be a dead one… Take that to the bank, and deposit that…
More of this “climate change” bull s**t.
Thanks for bringing up the elephant in the room – climate change!!
Donna says.
Thank you. All snakes play a vital role in controlling the rodent population which carry ticks and other diseases. Leave snakes alone, people.
Rattlers make nice hat bands.
Climate change is real and only bullshit to the unscientific minded or_________. If you haven’t noticed it happening well your________. How and why it’s happening is barely up for debate also.
Oh dear, Donna. The evidence is irrefutable. Glaciers are receding, ice is melting, all sorts of critters and plants are migrating north, violent storms, terrible draught. Our climate is changing, and, with it, come other changes, many of them unwanted.
The planet has heated up and called many times and it’s life
Yes – that is climate change. Why do people deny it?
Yes, but lots of things got killed and major changes happened. If your only goal is for the planet to still exist and life in some form to go on, there’s not so much cause for concern. If human suffering matters at all to you, it’s a very different matter.
If it comes on my property, it dies
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03072021/warming-trends-climate-change-rattlesnakes-fireworks-wildfire-yellowstone/
I was in the Texas panhandle on an oil lease, when I spotted one close by. I opted not to destroy it, and when I told the land owner/ rancher of my decision, he let me have it. They don’t want their livestock bitten, but I had no right to kill it?
Climate change is definitely not BS. Any informed person who knows or cares to know anything about science and math understands this. In today’s America that is far too small of a number
Had a friend out west lose his lower leg to a rattler – dangerous to people working in the woods with chainsaw hearing protectors etc – you never hear the rattle – you just feel the bite
Climate change is real and only bullshit to the unscientific minded or_________. If you haven’t noticed it happening well your________. How and why it’s happening is barely up for debate also.
Yes somehow water levels rising 2 millimeters due to “climate change” also caused that building to collapse in Florida. People will believe anything these days if the media says so.
I’ve noticed that. Someone once said “stupid is as stupid does”. I think that fits these Chicken Little the sky is falling typed.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t true in this case! The ground in Florida is mostly sand which is particularly mobile and unstable. It also depends a lot on which media you follow. Some are fact-based, some are based on someone’s agenda with little or no basis in truth or facts. Sadly, the latter is what causes all the trouble.
Climate change is real. Follow the science!
They dont belong here.
We do not need poisonous snakes. The non poisonous ones will keep the rodents in check. Any thing that can kill a human should be destroyed. End of story. Climate change is bullshit also. Two days ago Boston had the coldest day for July in history.
You gonna destroy the human race yerself? We humans are already doing a good job of it. You have proposed a self-fulfilling prophesy.Maybe someone will continue the job with someone you know or even closer, but not you, ubetcha!
You can’t fix stupid
If that’s not ‘climate change’, what do you call it?
It has ben warming since the ice age
Interesting logic. Humans kill humans so we all must die. When does the purge start? Yes I’m being sarcastic.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t true in this case! The ground in Florida is mostly sand which is particularly mobile and unstable. It also depends a lot on which media you follow. Some are fact-based, some are based on someone’s agenda with little or no basis in truth or facts. Sadly, the latter is what causes all the trouble.
*venomous*
I am terrified of any and all snakes. But rest assured I will do my best to not ever be where I can see one, or one sees me. If I am unfortunate, I just hope I have a shovel in hand. Shovel on side porch now. I will not walk in tall grass either. No snake for me I pray. Climate change is for real.
Venomous snakes are part of the ecosystem and eat larger prey many times than nonvenomous ones. Your argument about climate change is bullshit btw. That cold is due to the very thing you dismiss.
I have an uncle that lives in essex jct, vt. Havnt been there since i was a kid. Would love to know if he and my cousin are doing ok. Lost contact with them years ago after dad passed on. Want to come up and explore the area again sometime. If anyone has any info on them please let me know. Im in NC. His name is Robert “Bob” Carmichael. He has a son named Bobby. Drop me an email if anyone knows them . Thanks
I lived in my ancestral homeland, the east bank of the Hudson, until I left to make a decent living. I live in a cabin in Florida on acreage with many Diamondbacks and coral snakes. The timber rattlers of NY are more congenial and less dangerous than the venomous species here. And I don’t kill these here. Some of your readers should grow a set and stop living in fear.
My problem is that I believe in Science, just not scientists. Yes, it is scientific fact the world is warming. It has been for the last 20,000 years. 20,000 years ago you would have had to go 75 miles further West, from the Current West Coast of Florida to reach the Gulf of Mexico. Just 7800 years ago you could walk on dry ground to go between France and England. You see, Scientists don’t talk about that, because it doesn’t fit their Man Made Global Warming theory. So, if you really want to believe in Science, you must admit the world has been getting warmer and seas have been rising for a long time.
You say you believe in science, yet you ignore the dramatically INCREASED RATE of warming over the last 100 years, not the last 10,000. Scientists must look at ALL the data, not pick and choose the data. That is why there are peer-reviewed journals that, unfortunately, most people do not bother to open.
Climate change is here and it’s probably going to destroy the human race because of idiots who say there is no Climate change I’m sure the people who say BS there kids and grandkids will have to pay for it. There is Climate change just like Trump lost the election their is some stupid ass people in the world.
Don’t run for a shovel run for a shotgun
I think we share this planet with other animals and mammals we do not own it give them there space and if u go build a dream house with nature just because a bear walked across your property it doesn’t give you the right to kill it it lived there before you and snakes do to its not ur property u just share it but if another human try’s threatening ur family or the bears property u have the right to kill the human cause humans are like cockroaches the pop up everywhere.
I don’t like snakes and spiders.
That is instinctive and due to our co-evolution with predators and venomous creatures. And most animals don’t like us!! Good thing they can’t use shovels and shotguns!
Once we give AOC and the Democrats the $93 Trillion they require to “fix” the world weather we’ll all be living in Heaven on Earth. Imagine being able to render an F5 tornado a fart in the wind by pointing a handheld devise and squeezing a trigger. Redirecting a Cat 5 hurricane headed for Florida to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to die a fizzled death. Turn snow into Hershey Kisses to feed the hungry while keeping the roads free from slipping and sliding into each others cars resulting in having to replace the battery at a cost of $ 5000 each. (plus disposal charge of $3000 for damaged/dead battery) And we better do it soon or the earth will be gone in 12 years. (update 7 years). Ah, Climate Change..we’re all doomed.
We saw a very similar snake in AuSable Forks, Essex County. I’m trying to attach the photo.