A person lost there arm because of a Rattlesnake bite in the Park. Has anyone any information concerning it? I was told there were no Rattlesnakes in the Park.

I don't find it hard to believe that there are rattlesnakes in the park. I find it hard to believe that someone lost their arm from a bite.

Unlikely to have been a black diamondback, as they're found in the desert SW.

Probably a Timber Rattlesnake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_horridus

My question would be: how stupid do you have to be to get bit by a rattlesnake? It's a freaking RATTLEsnake; it's not like it's strikes without warning or jumps out of trees at people!

Hi,

It's kind of a long story, but I was involved in IDing the snake that I think you're talking about. It was a dusky pigmy rattlesnake. That kind of snake does not naturally occur anywhere near Philadelphia, so although no one has definitively figured out how that guy got bit, I'll bet anyone a lot of money it wasn't wandering around Pennypack. I've heard the guy recovered and did not lose his arm.

In our region we've got three species of venomous snakes: the timber rattler (Crotalus horridus), the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), and the massasauga (Sistrurus catenateus).

The timber rattlers get closest to Philly in the Pine Barrens of S. Jersey and along Blue Mountain north of I-78. Massasaugas only live way out in western PA, and copperheads live closest - there is a population at Valley Forge, and I know of others in Chester and Berks Counties. Maybe they're in Delaware County too, but there aren't any in the city of Philadelphia. I spend a lot of my free time looking for these snakes.

My point of writing the last couple paragraphs is that anyone getting bitten in Philly is getting tagged by a pet - it might be theirs, it might be someone else's, it might be an escaped pet, but it isn't wild.

Cheers,
Billy

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Thanks for clearing that up for us Billy !!

The snake and victum were taken to HUP. The snake was disected by thetoxicologist and that is how it was determined that the snake was poisonous and was diamondback rattler.

It was probably released into the park by someone. Usually, it's Alligator season in Pennypack, but this year some ahole has chosen venomous snakes. Probably has a pet tiger in his house.

I belong to a discussion group for local rock climbers who climb at a local indoor rock gym, and the discussion group is actually moderated by the guy who was bitten. He was bitten in the finger apparently, and didn't lose the finger or anything else.

Tried to get more out of him as to what happened and just got "it's a long story". Anyways, as someone else stated he killed the snake that bit him and was taken care of at HUP so all is well.

I'm a man of many hobbies, but snakes is not one of them. Can anyone tell us which snakes would be most likely to show up in our back yards? I've been in our current house for ten years now, our yard backs up to Pennypack, and in those ten years I've seen maybe three small snakes total. I know about the common garter snakes, even caught one for the kids to look at one time, but we also had a black snake with some orange decoration on it hiding under some ground cover. By the time I got my camera, the little guy slithered away. Never saw it again.

There are only a few snakes you're likely to find inside the City of Philadelphia or the near suburbs, and all are harmless. Copperheads do live in farther out in the suburban counties, but not w/in Philadelphia.



The most common snake in Philadelphia is the northern brown snake (Storeria dekayi), also called Dekay's snake. A lot of people think these are baby garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis), but they top out around 12-15 inches. They're brown (aptly named) with a faint stripe down the back bordered by little spots. They're really secretive, but are often found under rocks, logs, trash, old building debris - I find them in cemeteries and vacant lots all over; the one above is from the Woodlands Cemetery in West Philly.





Garter snakes come in second, and if you're near a creek, they'll be pretty common. What you saw with the black and the orange could be a garter. They are pretty variable - some have a drab checkered pattern, some have bold yellow stripes on a dark background. The top one is from Roxborough, the bottom one from a mile away in the Wissahickon. These show up in back yards and some vacant lots.



I've seen ringneck snakes (Diadophis punctatus) in the Wissahickon, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're in Pennypack and other wooded sections of Fairmont Park. The one above is from Chester County. This could be under ground cover, and some have bellies and rings more orange-yellow than the one above.


There are also northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon) here and there. I've seen them in the Wissahickon and Cobbs Creek. The one above is from Cobbs Creek just north of City Line. These can get up to three feet, can look pretty beefy, and do their best to look venomous when they're scared by flattening their heads and bodies. They do bite and poop a lot when you pick them up - you'll smell bad and end up with something like a cat scratch. Garters also poop and bite a lot, but are smaller and so scratch you up less. Brown snakes and ringnecks just poop.



There are some milksnakes (Lampropeltis triangulum) in Roxborough and around the Wissahickon (the one above is from Lycoming Co.). These are my big target - saw one four years ago and have been looking for more ever since, so if you see one, let me know. These will also bite and poop on you (sort of a theme with snakes), but are usually a little calmer than the garters and watersnakes.



Last, there are some black racers (Coluber constrictor) here and there along Cobbs Creek and way south in South Philly. The one above is from Cape May County, NJ. The babies have more of a pattern than the adults. These are champion biters - again not venomous, but enough to make you think twice about picking them up.


Billy

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