On a busy news day, which generated newspaper stories on numerous subjects of vital interest, many Erie Times-News readers seem attracted to tale of a slithering kind. I spent much of this morning chatting with readers who wanted to know all about the timber rattlesnake that was seized Monday by agents of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

The agents had been tipped that an Erie man and his 20-year-old son took the rattler from its den in nearby Warren County. The men were charged with hunting, taking, catching and/or transporting a timber rattlesnake without a permit. It's an offense that carries a fine of about $170.

The son, who kept the snake in a 25-gallon fish tank, said he wanted it as a pet. But Waterways Conservation Officer Ed Stuart said, "It fits the profile of a criminal collector."

According to a story in the Times-News by Greg Gaudio, Stuart said he thinks the poaching of reptiles for sale on the black market could be more prevalent in northwestern Pennsylvania than originally thought.

Gaudio's report quotes Bill Anderson, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as saying he knows just how dark the culture can get. In 2002, Anderson raided the Greensburg home of John P. Tokosh, a smuggler and dealer who is serving a prison sentence for trafficking in illegally transported wildlife.

Anderson told Gaudio he found 15 Pennsylvania Wood Turtles and eight Indian Star Tortoises in metal and plastic pools at Tokosh's home. He said Tokosh made more than $40,000 selling the turtles on the Internet.

Some snake hunters obtain a permit and take their prey legally, as the 20-year-old Erie man claimed he did.

The story and accompanying newspaper photo of the snake, which appears blue in color, really touched a chord with readers. They wanted to know if such snakes can be found in Erie -- they can't -- and how large the snakes can grow. The snake seized Monday was a 44-inch rattler.

An accompanying graphic by Chris Sigmund, of the Times-News, points out that timber rattlers can grow to about 5 feet long and live for about 20 years. They've been found in Crawford, Venango and Warren Counties in northwest Pa. Nobody has died from the bite of a timber rattler in Pennsylvania in more than 25 years, but several readers said they wouldn't be caught within a half-mile of the snakes. At least the rattlers shake their rattles as a warning sign before they bite.

After taking my sixth call about snakes, it occurred to me that this is a newspaper story that readers really relate to. Several said they can barely stand to look at a photo of snakes, but confessed they're fascinated by them.

Perhaps we can dig up a story on rattlers for every edition of the Times-News. But, then, that would amount to only so much snake oil.

-- Kevin Cuneo

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