THE REPTILES OF OHIO 255 



ing to Mattlin, "is under intense cultivation, and a collecting trip to the area 

 in May, 1948, proved a failure so far as rattlers were concerned. Interroga- 

 tion of some twenty-five field hands brought to light the startling fact that 

 only two rattlers had been encountered up to the time of my visit. I might 

 add that field mice were everywhere in abundance." 



Concerning the Mt. Victory locality, Mattlin adds that thii spot "is being 

 heavily cultivated and the remnants of the swamp forest have been drained." 

 When Triplehorn last visited Mt. Victory (late in 1947) bulldozers were at 

 work ripping up large sections of the massasaugas' habitat in that region. 



A sizable colony of these rattlers has recently been discovered in Rome 

 Twp., Ashtabula County. Both the Cleveland Museum and the Cleveland 

 Zoo have obtained specimens from there (eight were received at the Zoc 

 during the past two years). Dr. Williims describes the locality as follows: 



"The vicinity of Rome is, generally speaking, the basin of the Grand River 

 Valley. This basin is really an extension of the Lake Plain southward, reach- 

 ing back to the vicinity of Niles, a distance of about 40 miles from Lake Erie. 

 It is from 8 to 12 miles in width and stands only 150 to 350 feet above lake 

 level. It has been said that if the blanket of glacial drift were removed from 

 its surface, much of it would be at Lake Erie level (573' above sea level). 

 This accounts for large areas of marsh lands in the basin, and for the gener- 

 ally muddy character of the river water. . . . This should give the setting for 

 the habitat of the massasaugas, which are not uncommon in the marshy parts 

 of the basin." 



Wood advises me that he examined a small massasauga (268 mm. in 

 length) from the Huffman Dam area, in Greene County, which had eaten a 

 .snake. Only the tail remained undigested and an accurate identification was 

 impossible. Wood believes, however, that it probably was Storeria dekayi- 



Crotalus horridus horridus Linnaeus 

 TiMBFR Rattlesnake 



(Page 116; maps 28 and 66; plate 15, figs. 2-3) 



Judging from numerous reports and records, the timber rattlesnake may be 

 considerably less rare in the state than was indicated by the data available 

 when the first edition of this report was being prepared Numbers of speci- 

 mens have turned up in some of the southernmost counties — in the wilder 

 areas and in the state parks and forests. A number of accidents have occurred 

 and there have been some fatalities as the result of rattlesnake bite. New 

 records that are backed by preserved specimens are as follows: 



Ross County: Harrison Twp. (OUVC 1863); Tar Hollow, Harrisnn Twp. 

 (OSM 714); Tar Hollow State Park (OSM 566). SciOTo CouNTY: (OSM 716); 

 Pond Run (OSM 488); Shawnee State Forest (WED 159). ViNTON CouNTY: Sec. 

 7, Eagle Twp. (OSM 489); Zaleskl State Forest (OUVC I866A-B). 



In addition, there are the following reports supplied by competent observers 

 (chiefly Thom?s, Leete, and Gier) or obtained from newspaper accounts that pictured 

 the snakes or reported fatalities: HoCKING CoUNTY: Salt Creek Twp. (along Salt 

 Creek just north of Pine Cottage School). Ross County: Colerain Twp. (Pine Lake, 



