TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – That unmistakable sound of a rattlesnake’s tail is one of the desert’s most feared warnings, but some Arizona residents believe we may be hearing it less often.
And they think humans are to blame.
The theory goes like this: when we kill the snakes that rattle, we let the quiet ones survive, which leads to more “silent” snakes over time. It sounds like a scary example of evolution in real time, but is it true?
Brian Hughes, owner of Rattlesnake Solutions, says there’s simply no evidence that’s happening.
“There’s no evidence that says that that’s happening at all, and it wouldn’t be able to happen that fast even if it were the case,” Hughes said. “We haven’t been here that long. Evolution takes longer than that.”
Hughes says most rattlesnakes don’t rattle to begin with.
“In the wild, they rarely rattle,” he said. “The majority of rattlesnake encounters that a person’s going to have out there are going to be ones that they never even know about.”
Just weeks ago, former Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier was bitten by a rattlesnake while golfing. He said it never made a sound before striking. Hughes says that behavior is common.
“Sometimes they’ll skip the posturing part, especially if someone puts their hand right on it while they’re reaching for a golf ball. They might just go straight to a bite.”
Tom Weaver, curator of herpetology at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, says humans are the ones moving into rattlesnake territory — not the other way around.
“Everything that we’ve built in the desert is basically built on their habitat,” Weaver said.
He argues killing snakes isn’t the answer.
“I consider North American rattlesnake to be probably the most persecuted animal on the face of the earth,” Weaver said.
Weaver adds that rattlesnakes bite as a last resort.
“They don’t know what you are. They’ve probably never seen a human. All they want to do is not be with you and get away.”
As for the evolution theory, Weaver says some rattlesnakes on remote islands have evolved to lose their rattles — but that process takes tens of thousands of years, not a few decades of Arizona housing developments.
Experts say never assume a rattlesnake will rattle before striking. Watch where you step and where you put your hands. Don’t reach blindly into brush, rocks, or golf course rough. If you see a rattlesnake, call an expert to remove it — don’t grab a shovel.
“The best saying I’ve heard is kill ignorance, not rattlesnakes,” Weaver said.
Weaver says killing a snake just makes room for another. To actually reduce snake encounters, eliminate resources like water, shelter, and food such as rodents from your property.
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