Wildlife & Nature
Snakes
May witnesses two returns to the lake from winter hibernation: snakes and people. Snakes come out to warm up, breed, and eat. People come out to clean up their yards. Both activities occur in the same places - shorelines, brush piles, rock walls, and landscaping/shrubbery. So, in May, the KLA office gets a number of calls from concerned lake-dwellers who have come face to snout with snakes - what are the snakes, are they poisonous, are they dangerous, why are they there, and what to do about them.
First of all, not to worry. The three poisonous snakes of New York - timber rattlesnake, Massasauga rattlesnake, and copperhead - dwell mostly elsewhere, either west of Rochester or east of Syracuse (Massasauga rattlesnake), or in the lower Hudson Valley (copperhead). The timber rattlesnake is occasionally found along the southern tier of New York, including Steuben County. Favoring open rocky ledges in thicker woods, these snakes are unlikely lake-side dwellers.
Early in spring, female snakes like to lay out on rock walls and ledges where the sun's warmth helps warm the snakes and the eggs they lay (or the young developing inside them - some snakes bear their young live). After the young hatch/are born live, you'll see a lot, for a few weeks. Then, they get picked off by other predators or move out to find a home for themselves.
Snakes are also drawn to shorelines where the water is shallow and tadpoles, frogs, and small fish are easy to catch. Snakes also like brush and log piles because mice and other small mammals hide out in these places. Ditto for thick mulch, especially under shrubbery.
What to do about snakes? Eliminate hiding and foraging cover by removing brush, log/lumber piles. Trim weedy edges close and often. If you encounter one, give it a little room and it will go away. They don't attack or bite swimmers.
