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America's Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber Rattlesnake
There’s no sound quite like it, or as viscerally the ominous rattle of the timber rattlesnake. It’s a chilling shorthand for imminent danger, and a reminder of the countless ways that nature can suddenly snuff us out.
Yet most of us have never seen a timber rattler. Though they’re found in thirty-one states, and near many major cities, in contemporary America timber rattlesnakes are creatures mostly of imagination and innate fear.
Ted Levin aims to change that with America’s Snake , a portrait of the timber rattlesnake, its place in America’s pantheon of creatures and in our own frontier history—and of the heroic efforts to protect it against habitat loss, climate change, and the human tendency to kill what we fear. Taking us from labs where the secrets of the snake’s evolutionary history are being unlocked to far-flung habitats whose locations are fiercely protected by biologists and dedicated amateur herpetologists alike, Levin paints a picture of a fascinating peaceable, social, long-lived, and, despite our phobias, not inclined to bite. The timber rattler emerges here as emblematic of America and also, unfortunately, of the complicated, painful struggles involved in protecting and preserving the natural world.
A wonderful mix of natural history, travel writing, and exemplary journalism, America’s Snake is loaded with remarkable characters—none more so than the snake at its frightening, perhaps; endangered, certainly; and unquestionably unforgettable.
Yet most of us have never seen a timber rattler. Though they’re found in thirty-one states, and near many major cities, in contemporary America timber rattlesnakes are creatures mostly of imagination and innate fear.
Ted Levin aims to change that with America’s Snake , a portrait of the timber rattlesnake, its place in America’s pantheon of creatures and in our own frontier history—and of the heroic efforts to protect it against habitat loss, climate change, and the human tendency to kill what we fear. Taking us from labs where the secrets of the snake’s evolutionary history are being unlocked to far-flung habitats whose locations are fiercely protected by biologists and dedicated amateur herpetologists alike, Levin paints a picture of a fascinating peaceable, social, long-lived, and, despite our phobias, not inclined to bite. The timber rattler emerges here as emblematic of America and also, unfortunately, of the complicated, painful struggles involved in protecting and preserving the natural world.
A wonderful mix of natural history, travel writing, and exemplary journalism, America’s Snake is loaded with remarkable characters—none more so than the snake at its frightening, perhaps; endangered, certainly; and unquestionably unforgettable.
520 pages, Hardcover
First published May 6, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 24, 2024
The timber rattlesnake being my favorite local serpent (when I'm forced to choose), this book was of course going to find its way into my hands.
Levin's work is full of exceedingly interesting information, with a whole host of natural history tidbits which fill the pages and make it a worthwhile perusal (although some of this information, such as the idea that a rattlesnake's rattle can come off, and then easily be placed back on, is ludicrous, so read with skepticism... I'm not even sure Levin did any actual research himself). I was fully expecting to love this book, since it purports to cover the history of the animal and Mankind's relationship to it, plus the details of its daily life). And yet, love was not my ultimate response.
Levin appears to harbor some quite unusual grudges, and in places possesses a point of view bordering on the strange. This first made its appearance when he refers to field herpers (which he places in quotation marks, as if that's not indeed what the term is) as a "New Age group." There is simply no context in which this phrase applies to field herpers.
New Age is defined as either "an eclectic group of cultural attitudes arising in late 20th century Western society that are adapted from those of a variety of ancient and modern cultures, that emphasize beliefs (as reincarnation, holism, pantheism, and occultism) outside the mainstream, and that advance alternative approaches to spirituality, right living, and health," or as something which is "contemporary, modern." Neither definition applies to field herping (in its general form, anyway: you may indeed view each snake or frog you find and study as some incarnation of an ancient pagan deity... good on ya, if that's the case, but you are well within the minority).
Calling field herpers a "New Age" group is so ridiculously off-base one wonders if Levin was aware he was writing those words... or were they placed there by an uninformed editor? Either way, it's a gross mistake... and if it wasn't a library book I'm reading I would have thrown the thing across the room, as I've been known to do to books that anger me).
I struggled past that point, however, only to discover a disturbing trend: at about 100 pages in I have realized that Levin possesses an oddly elitist mindset when it comes to the study (or even the admiration) of snakes. He makes excuses for the worst sort of professional incompetence in snake researchers, while downplaying the role amateurs enthusiasts have played in our knowledge of these animals.
Example: when telling of a certain researcher's blatant abuse of his subjects, in particular an episode in which a rattler was pulled so hard from a crevice that "blocks of ventral scales came off and viscera spilled out," including the heart. Levin writes: "The rattlesnake died in rehabilitation a few days later. When you handle that many wild animals, regardless the species, the loss of one or two or three is regrettable but unavoidable."
Nonsense. So nonsensical, in fact, that such a statement should be basis enough for Levin's barring from any animal research at all. I would suggest anyone using him for surveys or other work seriously consider replacing him. (Perhaps such a strange and disturbing viewpoint is why his list of employers, including the Bronx Zoo and the National Park Service, is all in the past tense).
Simply put, if you manipulate a study animal so hard you tear open its belly and kill it, you have failed. You are grossly incompetent, and I would argue quite possibly psychologically disturbed... as are those who would defend you.
I have no idea what to make of this book. It seems to hold potential, and I'd been hopeful for what it would contain (and what it would teach me about these magnificent animals). Yet it's turning out to be awful... and ultimately useless to any real understanding of these animals. Levin presents far too much information about quirky (and even deranged) people, which negates and overshadows the otherwise quite good natural history he includes. This single flaw is a fatal one, a strange choice to make when given the opportunity to perhaps write the definitive work on Crotalus horridus. One is left wondering what's wrong with Levin. He writes a good line of prose but he doesn't seem to know what to do with this talent, and his opinions and thoughts are often questionable.
There is a good book in this topic, but this isn't it. This work cannot decide who its audience is (layman or professional), and it's my belief that it shouldn't have one at all.
Check out "Landscape with Reptile" by Thomas Palmer, instead.
--Todd Michael Cox
Levin's work is full of exceedingly interesting information, with a whole host of natural history tidbits which fill the pages and make it a worthwhile perusal (although some of this information, such as the idea that a rattlesnake's rattle can come off, and then easily be placed back on, is ludicrous, so read with skepticism... I'm not even sure Levin did any actual research himself). I was fully expecting to love this book, since it purports to cover the history of the animal and Mankind's relationship to it, plus the details of its daily life). And yet, love was not my ultimate response.
Levin appears to harbor some quite unusual grudges, and in places possesses a point of view bordering on the strange. This first made its appearance when he refers to field herpers (which he places in quotation marks, as if that's not indeed what the term is) as a "New Age group." There is simply no context in which this phrase applies to field herpers.
New Age is defined as either "an eclectic group of cultural attitudes arising in late 20th century Western society that are adapted from those of a variety of ancient and modern cultures, that emphasize beliefs (as reincarnation, holism, pantheism, and occultism) outside the mainstream, and that advance alternative approaches to spirituality, right living, and health," or as something which is "contemporary, modern." Neither definition applies to field herping (in its general form, anyway: you may indeed view each snake or frog you find and study as some incarnation of an ancient pagan deity... good on ya, if that's the case, but you are well within the minority).
Calling field herpers a "New Age" group is so ridiculously off-base one wonders if Levin was aware he was writing those words... or were they placed there by an uninformed editor? Either way, it's a gross mistake... and if it wasn't a library book I'm reading I would have thrown the thing across the room, as I've been known to do to books that anger me).
I struggled past that point, however, only to discover a disturbing trend: at about 100 pages in I have realized that Levin possesses an oddly elitist mindset when it comes to the study (or even the admiration) of snakes. He makes excuses for the worst sort of professional incompetence in snake researchers, while downplaying the role amateurs enthusiasts have played in our knowledge of these animals.
Example: when telling of a certain researcher's blatant abuse of his subjects, in particular an episode in which a rattler was pulled so hard from a crevice that "blocks of ventral scales came off and viscera spilled out," including the heart. Levin writes: "The rattlesnake died in rehabilitation a few days later. When you handle that many wild animals, regardless the species, the loss of one or two or three is regrettable but unavoidable."
Nonsense. So nonsensical, in fact, that such a statement should be basis enough for Levin's barring from any animal research at all. I would suggest anyone using him for surveys or other work seriously consider replacing him. (Perhaps such a strange and disturbing viewpoint is why his list of employers, including the Bronx Zoo and the National Park Service, is all in the past tense).
Simply put, if you manipulate a study animal so hard you tear open its belly and kill it, you have failed. You are grossly incompetent, and I would argue quite possibly psychologically disturbed... as are those who would defend you.
I have no idea what to make of this book. It seems to hold potential, and I'd been hopeful for what it would contain (and what it would teach me about these magnificent animals). Yet it's turning out to be awful... and ultimately useless to any real understanding of these animals. Levin presents far too much information about quirky (and even deranged) people, which negates and overshadows the otherwise quite good natural history he includes. This single flaw is a fatal one, a strange choice to make when given the opportunity to perhaps write the definitive work on Crotalus horridus. One is left wondering what's wrong with Levin. He writes a good line of prose but he doesn't seem to know what to do with this talent, and his opinions and thoughts are often questionable.
There is a good book in this topic, but this isn't it. This work cannot decide who its audience is (layman or professional), and it's my belief that it shouldn't have one at all.
Check out "Landscape with Reptile" by Thomas Palmer, instead.
--Todd Michael Cox
March 31, 2018
Think of that quintessential tow-headed 20th century boy of books and movies--and how he'd come into the house with a pocketful of stuff he'd collected throughout the day: paperclips, used gum, dead bugs, a rabbit's foot.
That's America's Snake. Ted Levin is the boy. His higgledy-piggledy contents of his out-turned pockets this overly large, chaotic this book. There are treasures here, but they might be hard to find.
America's snake concerns the natural history of the badly endangered Timber Rattlesnake, which leaves throughout the northeast and parts of the Midwest. Levin is at his best when describing the people who are enthused by the snake, and the enthusiasm itself. There's real ardor here.
The natural history bits are sometimes harder to cut through, mostly because he is wont to go off on long digressions about basic biology; other times because he is too careful to draw many conclusions. There seems to be strong circumstantial evidence that climate change is wreaking havoc on the remaining populations of the snake, but Levin pulls back from making the case explicit.
As a piece of writing, this book can be very frustrating. It started life as a series of magazine essays, and that history remains marked on it. There is a huge amount of repetition (at some points, Levin seems to concede that readers are expected to have spent months on the book, rather than a few days or few weeks, explaining some of it.) We are introduced and reintroduced to central characters in the book and basic facts of the timber rattler's natural history.
His sentences are oddly structured, overly stuffed with facts and not divulging their syntax to the end. He is not always reliable. He spends the better part of a paragraph describing one snake enthusiast's interest in guitars and music and activities in a a band, then ends, un-ironically, that attention to the snake is the main focus of his life. At another time, he has a very eccentric interpretation of Garret Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons.
Literary attempts to corral this mass are as inadequate as that little boy's pocket. The title and subtitle bear little relationship to the book: there's no way in which the timber rattler is ever described as America's snake, unless we take the myopic view of the Yankee that America comprises New England and parts of upstate New York. (Early on, he offers some half-hearted comparisons between loving the snake and loving baseball. but these fade away after a hundred pages or so.) There is no "rise" of the snake--only its fall, at varying rates, since the arrival of Europeans in North America, at times under a bounty system.
Similarly, the books sectional and chapter organization fails to hold the material together. Chapters vary across wide swaths of topics. The book is divided into three sections, egress, interlude, and ingress, but the reason for this categorization is occult at best.
What remains, even when all the dross is tripped away, is the enthusiasm. Levin makes a few head-fakes toward E.O. Wilson's suggestion that fear of snakes is innate. But clearly this is not true--and the evidence is right before us in this book. All the men featured here--and they are all men, as far as I remember--love and are attracted to snakes.
As I often do recently when thinking about natural histories and especially books about humans studying animals, I return to William Leach's "The Butterfly People." His book was not as rooted in natural history as this one, but asked a question that was begging to be asked here: what is this enthusiasm? For leach, it was about an encounter with beauty. Here is is about something more akin to the sublime--beauty and terror entwined, though that terror comes to be diminished some. And that, too, was an interesting aspect of the book: the way handling the snakes could become routine for those who spent so much time with them.
At any rate, that's what I will take away from this book, even when I forget most of the facts that popped up here and there in this mass of a narrative: the enthusiasm that motivated the snake's defenders, and the hope that gives those of us more distant from the reptiles, but still rooting for them. Someone loves the snakes, someone cares.
That's America's Snake. Ted Levin is the boy. His higgledy-piggledy contents of his out-turned pockets this overly large, chaotic this book. There are treasures here, but they might be hard to find.
America's snake concerns the natural history of the badly endangered Timber Rattlesnake, which leaves throughout the northeast and parts of the Midwest. Levin is at his best when describing the people who are enthused by the snake, and the enthusiasm itself. There's real ardor here.
The natural history bits are sometimes harder to cut through, mostly because he is wont to go off on long digressions about basic biology; other times because he is too careful to draw many conclusions. There seems to be strong circumstantial evidence that climate change is wreaking havoc on the remaining populations of the snake, but Levin pulls back from making the case explicit.
As a piece of writing, this book can be very frustrating. It started life as a series of magazine essays, and that history remains marked on it. There is a huge amount of repetition (at some points, Levin seems to concede that readers are expected to have spent months on the book, rather than a few days or few weeks, explaining some of it.) We are introduced and reintroduced to central characters in the book and basic facts of the timber rattler's natural history.
His sentences are oddly structured, overly stuffed with facts and not divulging their syntax to the end. He is not always reliable. He spends the better part of a paragraph describing one snake enthusiast's interest in guitars and music and activities in a a band, then ends, un-ironically, that attention to the snake is the main focus of his life. At another time, he has a very eccentric interpretation of Garret Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons.
Literary attempts to corral this mass are as inadequate as that little boy's pocket. The title and subtitle bear little relationship to the book: there's no way in which the timber rattler is ever described as America's snake, unless we take the myopic view of the Yankee that America comprises New England and parts of upstate New York. (Early on, he offers some half-hearted comparisons between loving the snake and loving baseball. but these fade away after a hundred pages or so.) There is no "rise" of the snake--only its fall, at varying rates, since the arrival of Europeans in North America, at times under a bounty system.
Similarly, the books sectional and chapter organization fails to hold the material together. Chapters vary across wide swaths of topics. The book is divided into three sections, egress, interlude, and ingress, but the reason for this categorization is occult at best.
What remains, even when all the dross is tripped away, is the enthusiasm. Levin makes a few head-fakes toward E.O. Wilson's suggestion that fear of snakes is innate. But clearly this is not true--and the evidence is right before us in this book. All the men featured here--and they are all men, as far as I remember--love and are attracted to snakes.
As I often do recently when thinking about natural histories and especially books about humans studying animals, I return to William Leach's "The Butterfly People." His book was not as rooted in natural history as this one, but asked a question that was begging to be asked here: what is this enthusiasm? For leach, it was about an encounter with beauty. Here is is about something more akin to the sublime--beauty and terror entwined, though that terror comes to be diminished some. And that, too, was an interesting aspect of the book: the way handling the snakes could become routine for those who spent so much time with them.
At any rate, that's what I will take away from this book, even when I forget most of the facts that popped up here and there in this mass of a narrative: the enthusiasm that motivated the snake's defenders, and the hope that gives those of us more distant from the reptiles, but still rooting for them. Someone loves the snakes, someone cares.
July 28, 2016
Initial thoughts: When a book has an Etymology at the beginning and lists American colloquial for rattlesnakes as "sizzle-tail, buzz-worm, chatter-viper and snattle-rake" I think I'm going to like the book already. I guess I'll find out when I'm done reading it. :)
Final thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I learned so much about Timber Rattlesnakes' behavioral, ecological, historical, and anecdotal significances. It also talks about those who have dedicated their lives to these snakes, whether they are professionals or just people who have an innate love for these reptiles.
On the other hand, this books brings forth some issues that can make this fight to save these reptiles potentially very difficult. Things like biologists fighting with those who may not have the same training, but have the heart and willingness to bring the facts to the table. Too much arguing over whether information of den sites should be made public or kept quiet due to people who will collect, kill, or disrupt the natural behaviors of these animals. I don't know if there is a way to fix these problems, but bringing this up in the book is a way to make the situation known and confronted.
This book is very focused on the populations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. My hope is that more information will allow Ted to write another book about the populations in the Southeast. It would give a more well rounded view of Timbers in the US and add to the importance of this species.
Whether you are a fan of Timbers, or snakes in general, or not, read this book! It may just change your view on their importance to us and to our country.
Final thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I learned so much about Timber Rattlesnakes' behavioral, ecological, historical, and anecdotal significances. It also talks about those who have dedicated their lives to these snakes, whether they are professionals or just people who have an innate love for these reptiles.
On the other hand, this books brings forth some issues that can make this fight to save these reptiles potentially very difficult. Things like biologists fighting with those who may not have the same training, but have the heart and willingness to bring the facts to the table. Too much arguing over whether information of den sites should be made public or kept quiet due to people who will collect, kill, or disrupt the natural behaviors of these animals. I don't know if there is a way to fix these problems, but bringing this up in the book is a way to make the situation known and confronted.
This book is very focused on the populations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. My hope is that more information will allow Ted to write another book about the populations in the Southeast. It would give a more well rounded view of Timbers in the US and add to the importance of this species.
Whether you are a fan of Timbers, or snakes in general, or not, read this book! It may just change your view on their importance to us and to our country.
January 1, 2023
I wanted to like this book much more than I did. The parts that focused on snakes were enjoyable, but the author too often got in the way. Further, the chapters were hodgepodge. They contained great gems, but it felt that they weren’t adding up to anything.
August 8, 2022
I enjoyed the book for the uniqueness of the topic and the fact that Ted introduces vocabulary just beyond my knowledge. As a Forester I was drawn to the topic because I have come across a few timber rattlers in GA, AR, and VA but never knew much about them. Now I know just enough to become even more fascinated with them.
Ted does go on small tangents at time and sometimes relays details that don't bring anything to the story: a conversation in passing between two naturalist about police cars seen the previous year where a homicide was being investigated seemed strangely out of place and unrelated to the flow of the chapter. He occasionally has the habit of giving the acronym of an organization or agency sometimes several chapters before he has given the name of the organization or agency.
You can see that these small hiccups didn't take away from the 5-star rating. There is just a lot of great info here and the resources at the end of the book are interesting to peruse.
Ted does go on small tangents at time and sometimes relays details that don't bring anything to the story: a conversation in passing between two naturalist about police cars seen the previous year where a homicide was being investigated seemed strangely out of place and unrelated to the flow of the chapter. He occasionally has the habit of giving the acronym of an organization or agency sometimes several chapters before he has given the name of the organization or agency.
You can see that these small hiccups didn't take away from the 5-star rating. There is just a lot of great info here and the resources at the end of the book are interesting to peruse.
October 7, 2018
This book isn't just written for rattlesnake fans but rather for anyone with an interest in natural history, the outdoors, and the complex and changing ecological relationships affecting a long-lived species over time, with an emphasis on human-caused factors. The author is a competent writer who knows and loves his subject, making the book a pleasant escape for reading at an airport or hotel with rich descriptions of nature. Even if one goes into this book without a passion for snakes, I think you'll finish it with one, or at least an appreciation, and also maybe a sense of loss and a bit of regret.
October 11, 2024
An easy, non-technical read, AMERICA’S SNAKE by Ted Levin is an excellent book. While it makes no attempt to paint the timber rattlesnake as harmless and fuzzy, it dispels many of the myths about how dangerous and aggressive they are. Like virtually all snakes they would rather run than fight. In reality, it’s the timber rattlesnake that has to fear humans, not the other way around. If you are interested in snakes, curious about rattlesnakes, or just want a good read, I recommend AMERICA’S SNAKE. The only criticism I have of the book is the time spent on asides, things like the diamondback rattlesnake. Nothing against diamondbacks, and the material on them is fine, but the book is supposed to be about timber rattlers. Given how good the book is otherwise, that is a trivial complaint.
February 9, 2018
“America’s Snake” is revelatory in describing how amazing Crotalus horridus, the timber rattlesnake, is as decades of research is starting to show. The giant threat that I imagined lurking in the Connecticut woods of my youth is an amazing, ancient, non-aggressive, and vital part of the woodland ecosystem. Highly recommended.
October 15, 2021
While I enjoyed the book, I was disappointed that the focus was on the Northeast. I often encounter Canebrakes on the land I share with them in South Carolina so was hoping for some insight into the Southeastern populations habits.
November 23, 2018
Very well research with in-depth information.
January 9, 2021
A great balance of science and popular writing. The book is enthralling from start to finish, and I learned a lot about the lengths that we still need to go to save these animals.
September 13, 2023
You won't look a rattle snakes the same way after reading this book.
February 2, 2024
a lot of interesting things in here.
March 27, 2023
This book is winds and curves too much away from the lives of these beautiful long term inhabitants. But the illustrations are great. There were some fun facts and interesting encounters but the final two chapters just a trudge at the end of a miserable final half of an ultra.
December 7, 2016
The semi truck thundering down a country highway suddenly swerves across the road and onto the opposite shoulder. When it pulls back into the proper lane, it leaves a smashed rattlesnake model behind it.
"Sadly, however, most humans are loath to accept rattlesnakes; it would take a miracle (or at least faith in an enlightened guide) for the unwashed to realize that venomous serpents aren't errors in God's benevolence, all surprise and threat, hardwired by a tiny, inflexible pea brain; they are living evolving beings as finely tuned to their respective corners of the planet as is a sugar maple or a royal palm."
Ted Levin has always loved snakes especially rattlesnakes. He spent years amassing the information in this book. The level of detail is sometimes overwhelming although never technical, always easy to understand. It focuses primarily on timber rattlesnakes in New England although they occur in 31 states.
Timber rattlesnakes moved into New England at the end of the last Ice Age. Their lives revolve around keeping themselves at the proper temperature which they do by basking in the sun then moving into the shade. They can live over 50 years. Females don't breed until at least nine and not every year. Young snakes have many enemies but none so relentless as man.
This book is a marvelous introduction to the timber rattlesnake. It goes through the venom - developed to immobilize and start digesting prey, not defense, the differences between male and female snakes, denning behavior and some of the many reasons the snakes are endangered.
An interesting point to me was about Lyme disease, a scourge in New England. A town with an active rattlesnake den has about 13 cases per 100,000 people a year. A nearby town that eradicated its dens has about 130 cases per 100,000 people per year. The disease reservoir is white-footed mice and shrews. Guess what rattlesnakes eat?
At times I found the book hard to read. This wasn't because of the way it was written but because the stupidity of some people about snakes got to me.
Whether you like snakes or not, this is a very good book to read. You don't have to like snakes to respect them and the good they do. Perhaps by the end of the book you will have that grudging respect these interesting and valuable timber rattlesnakes need to survive.
"Once you get to know timber rattlesnakes, it's hard to remain neutral; they're venomous and potentially deadly, no question, but they're also beautiful, helpful, long-lived, social, mellow...and predictable"
"Sadly, however, most humans are loath to accept rattlesnakes; it would take a miracle (or at least faith in an enlightened guide) for the unwashed to realize that venomous serpents aren't errors in God's benevolence, all surprise and threat, hardwired by a tiny, inflexible pea brain; they are living evolving beings as finely tuned to their respective corners of the planet as is a sugar maple or a royal palm."
Ted Levin has always loved snakes especially rattlesnakes. He spent years amassing the information in this book. The level of detail is sometimes overwhelming although never technical, always easy to understand. It focuses primarily on timber rattlesnakes in New England although they occur in 31 states.
Timber rattlesnakes moved into New England at the end of the last Ice Age. Their lives revolve around keeping themselves at the proper temperature which they do by basking in the sun then moving into the shade. They can live over 50 years. Females don't breed until at least nine and not every year. Young snakes have many enemies but none so relentless as man.
This book is a marvelous introduction to the timber rattlesnake. It goes through the venom - developed to immobilize and start digesting prey, not defense, the differences between male and female snakes, denning behavior and some of the many reasons the snakes are endangered.
An interesting point to me was about Lyme disease, a scourge in New England. A town with an active rattlesnake den has about 13 cases per 100,000 people a year. A nearby town that eradicated its dens has about 130 cases per 100,000 people per year. The disease reservoir is white-footed mice and shrews. Guess what rattlesnakes eat?
At times I found the book hard to read. This wasn't because of the way it was written but because the stupidity of some people about snakes got to me.
Whether you like snakes or not, this is a very good book to read. You don't have to like snakes to respect them and the good they do. Perhaps by the end of the book you will have that grudging respect these interesting and valuable timber rattlesnakes need to survive.
"Once you get to know timber rattlesnakes, it's hard to remain neutral; they're venomous and potentially deadly, no question, but they're also beautiful, helpful, long-lived, social, mellow...and predictable"
July 23, 2016
Excellent book. I learned so much. The book focused on snakes from PA up to Maine, how they evolved, their habits, how social they are, and how tolerant they are and how hated they are by people, even when they are not presenting a threat. Historically (last 10 years) most people bitten are males between the age of 16 and 25 and were messing with the snake--no surprises there. Two were bitten on the tongue, i.e. sticking their face in the snake's face and flicking the tongue like the snake does. One was bitten on the penis. No specifics were given and the reader was left to their imagination. The book covered how complex the venom is and if bitten what you should do. Interesting enough it seems most people carry one vial of anti-venom and the minimum dose that you will receive at the hospital is 6 vials. Also, supply of anti-venom is often a problem.
June 13, 2016
Even though it's about a species in peril, Levin stays upbeat and humorous, all while unable to conceal his profound love of nature. This isn't just about timber rattlesnakes, but the uneasy relationship we have with nature, animal intelligence (even culture), and the awe that seeps out of every creature. I reviewed it here in the Providence Journal: http://www.providencejournal.com/arti...
July 9, 2016
Everything you may want know regarding timber rattles and possibly some things you didn't want to know. Great read and informative.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews