Movements of the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) in the South Carolina mountains

Abstract

Although the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is the most common rattlesnake in the eastern United States, populations have declined and only scattered metapopulations remain in what was once a large and extensive North American range. Whereas some C. horridus populations in forest communities of the northeastern and western US have been studied, information on those occurring along the southern part of its range is virtually non-existent. In South Carolina there has been relatively little research done on this species and there has been no formal study on C. horridus in the mountainous regions of the state. From 2006 to 2009, I radio-tracked several C. horridus in Table Rock State Park, South Carolina and documented their movement patterns. For the duration of the study, males moved a mean annual distance (± SE) of 3,047 ± 488 m, non-gravid females moved a mean (± SE) of 1,688 ± 517 m, and gravid females moved a mean (± SE) of 2,248 ± 597 m. Although mean distances moved were not statistically significant among groups in this study, mean distances travelled for all sexes were much shorter than observed in other populations. I hypothesize that forest management involving natural regeneration and fire suppression, and prey availability may influence C. horridus movements in Table Rock State Park.