I 18 



THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



763). Scioto County: Nile Twp. (CSNH 1493); NE part of Nile Twp. (TZS 

 810); 8 mi. SW of Otway (TZS 1738-40); Rocky Fork at Pink (OSM 410); 

 Shawnee Forest, Union Twp. (OSM 124). 



Habitat and Habits. — The timber rattlesnake appears to be much less com- 

 mon than formerly and must be considered as a comparatively rare snake in 

 Ohio. According to reports of early travelers and settlers it was found fre- 

 quently in the hilly southern counties, but the destruction of the forests and 

 the constant persecution by man have caused its extirpation in all but a few 

 areas. There is mention in historical accounts of a colony of considerable size 

 in the rocky bluffs of the Scioto River just north of Columbus, but this has 

 long since been destroyed by quarrying operations. More recent reports con- 

 cern rattlers in the vicinity of Akron and Lancaster. Careful inquiry and 

 search have failed to verify these, and while there are habitats suitable for timber 

 rattlesnakes near each of these cities it is probable the reports are based upon 

 the massasauga or upon the misidentification of some non-poisonous species. 

 There are still colonies on the Catawba and Marblehead peninsulas of Ottawa 

 County and on some of the Lake Erie islands, but all other recent records 

 are from the southern part of unglaciated Ohio. 



Map 28. Ohio locality records and general 

 range of the Timber Rattlesnake, Crotalus 

 horridus horridus. 



