Portage County may be well positioned to be the center of a new conservation push in Ohio, especially since , historically, we have had a head start on the Rattlesnake situation, especially right here in Nelson Township.
See, somebody has, apparently figured out that the Natural World is pretty much all of a piece and when we set about wiping out “pieces parts” of things we don’t like, it upsets the balance of everything left over–even things that we don’t like have a place and a purpose (mosquitos, for instance?). Just because some critters and/or conditions are not to our liking or convenience, we do not have a license to up and get rid of them. There may be unforeseen consequences.
This sermon is brought to you courtesy of a notice the other day about how the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is looking to return rattlesnakes to parts of the state where they have been pretty much eliminated. We are living in one such part, have been since the early settlements in these parts. The Silica Sand Rd area was, at one time, known as “Hell’s Hollow” and at least one story that I used to tell to the seventh grade was an illustration of how prevalent the vipers were at one time around here.
Seems that a family out in the “wilds” of Nelson–Ledges maybe?–had purchased some land and spent their Spring and Summer clearing and planting and cultivating so that they would have something to live on for the Winter. They spent little time on locating a building spot for a house or building one, for that matter. Anyway, crops were cared for, grew, then harvested; the house came next, a piece at a time, not finished until just as the Fall and Winter became weather realities, built on rock outcrops where flooding would not be a problem. Then the first truly cold night came and there was a good fire built in the fireplace; things warmed up, then the family went up to the loft to sleep (Not much floorspace in the cabins back then). In the morning, a surprise awaited any early risers. Because the warmth in the cabin radiated down to the rocks, it woke the cold-blooded snakes which had settled in the rock formations for the season and persuaded the reptiles that Spring was right above them and they should come out to enjoy it.. “Wall-to-wall” is fine if we’re talking carpet but not so great when it’s snakes on the floor. I think that the family moved somewhere else.
Back in the day, I used to get–at least once a year–a student ,or two, who was sure that their cousin/uncle/neighbor/friend had killed a rattler right here in Nelson Township/Portage County/their backyard/wherever and they’d bring in the skin to show me. Never happened.
Perhaps the over-abundance of rodents may be due to the fact that there are hardly any snakes to eat ‘em up. We’ll see how the possibility of returning rattlesnakes to their natural habitat goes over in the legislature. There is an abundance of reptiles down in Columbus anyway; they probably don’t want any competition.
