LOCK HAVEN — Armed with two timber rattlesnakes in tow, Waterways Conservation Officer Tom Nunamacher allayed fears of the Clinton County commissioners regarding affects proposed new snake hunt regulations would have on the Cross Fork Snake Hunt.
“We are not against snake hunts. We think they serve a valid educational purpose,” said Nunamacher, of the Fish and Boat Commission’s Northcentral Region office in Pleasant Gap.
Nunamacher told the commissioners Monday the regulations are proposed to save the timber rattler, which is considered a “candidate species,” just a few notches below endangered species status.
“We, as a state government entity, have an obligation to protect the species,” he said.
Nunamacher said most of the proposed regulations likely won’t have an affect on the Cross Fork Snake Hunt, with is the largest yearly fundraiser for the Kettle Creek Fire Co.
Nunamacher’s discussion followed a resolution passed by the commissioners earlier this month denouncing the proposed regulations, which, they said, would have a negative effect on the county’s tourism.
The county and the fire company have raised objections to several proposals, nearly all of which were addressed by Nunamacher.
The commissioners’ resolution states the Fish and Boat Commission’s proposal to raise permit fees for individual hunters from $5 to $50 for residents and $100 for non-residents would impact the amount of hunters at the annual snake hunt.
But Nunamacher and Herpetologist Chris Urban of the commission’s Bellefonte office said the higher fees are needed to reimburse the agency.
Nunamacher said each permit application is reviewed by a single herpetologist and a seasonal assistant. The information is then logged into a computer database and compared to revocation lists prior to the permit being issued.
Then, after the season, Nunamacher said the agency has to produce “harvest reports,” where data is inputted into a computer and reviewed by a herpetologist.
Urban wrote he originally proposed the fees be increased to $25, which he states “is more reasonable and most likely acceptable.”
The commissioners and fire company are also opposed to the proposal to increase the permit fee for sponsors from $25 to $100.
Nunamacher said the $25 fee does not cover the costs of administration. Further, he said the fire company annually receives about $20,000 for the snake hunts, which means the increased fee will not impact the fire company.
“It’s only fair to the Pennsylvania sportsmen who don’t hunt rattlesnakes that we make this narrow demographic pay its own administrative fees,” he said.
The commission is also proposing that bagged snakes be at least 42 inches in length.
Nunamacher and Urban said the length requirements are proposed to eliminate female and juvenile snakes from being caught, to allow the species to repopulate.
Further, Nunamacher said a large majority of snakes caught in the 10 snake hunts around the state meet those requirements. Information on the Kettle Creek Fire Co. Web site disputes that, stating most of the snakes caught at its hunt are between 38 and 39 inches.
However, Nunamacher said of the 23 timber rattlesnakes brought in for last year’s hunt, 20 were above 42 inches, with an average of 46 inches.
“I don’t think that three snakes will endanger the snake hunts,” he said.
The commissioners and fire company said they are also against the proposal to limit the importing of timber rattlers for hunting or the sub-species of the timber rattler, including western diamondback rattlesnakes, for sacking contests.
Nunamacher responded the Fish and Boat Commission has never allowed the importation of timber rattlers, and doesn’t have the legal authority to regulate the importation of western diamondbacks.
The commissioners and fire company also publicly opposed a proposal to limit the amount of snake hunts in a region at the discretion of the executive director of the Fish and Boat Commission.
However, Nunamacher said that provision has already been in place “for a very, very long time.”
“It’s business as usual,” he said.
The Fish and Boat Commission heard public comments on the issue for 90 days before the period ended earlier this month.
Nunamacher said the commission received approximately 1,200 comments, nearly 75 percent of which were in favor of the proposals.
“That’s mostly from scientists and conservationists who know the population is dwindling across the country and Pennsylvania still has the available population base,” he said.
Nunamacher added the commission is also proposing limiting the number of snakes a hunter can catch in a year from two to one. That provision would also help the species’ dwindling population, he said.
The officer said Monday’s discussion was mostly to educate the commissioners on the proposed changes and how they would likely allow the timber rattlesnake’s numbers increase.
Nunamacher used the male and female timber rattlers to educate the commissioners on their habits and to note they do not pose a great hazard to humans.
He said an average of three to six people in Clinton County are bitten by timber rattlers yearly. The snake’s venom attacks victims’ lungs and tissues, but victims are usually able to return to normal activity the next day.
Western diamondback rattlesnakes, however, do pose a danger to humans with their venom used to attack victims’ signals from their brains to their hearts, Nunamacher said.
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