5 October 1906: Mrs. Williamson Kills 5-Foot Rattler

On this day in 1906, it was reported that Mrs. G. D. Williamson was not a delicate flower but an adept and potentially dangerous lady, if you were a snake.

There are three types of rattlesnakes in Georgia: the Pygmy, the Eastern Diamondback, and the Canebrake or Timber rattler. It was likely one of the latter two, as both can grow to be over five feet long. 

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is currently evaluating the Eastern Diamondback rattler for inclusion on the Endangered Species list. There are no limits on the hunting of this snake in the Southeast, and they are losing their habitat of long-leaf pine forests. 


Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Jan. 1906 - Dec. 1908 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Clarke County Militia Districts on the Clarke-Oconee Genealogical Society website.
• Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses by James H. Miller in the general collection.
• Snakes of the Southeast by J. Whitfield Gibbons in the Reference and general collections.
• Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere by Jonathan A. Campbell via PINES.
• Looking for Longleaf: The Rise and Fall of an American Forest by Lawrence S. Earley via PINES.
• Rattler! A Natural History of Rattlesnakes by Christopher Mattison in the general collection.
• The Art of Managing Longleaf by Leon Neel via PINES. 
  
• How to Be Safe around Snakes by the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory's Herpetology Program.
• The Rattlesnake Who Went to School by Craig Strete in the children's collection.
• Animal Bytes: Rattlesnake on the San Diego Zoo web page.