Copperheads may live here. Their venom is not as potent as that of a rattler, though. —Greg Hume photo
Are there any poisonous snakes in Ridgefield?
There are no absolute “yes” or “no” answers about many kinds of wildlife that officially do not live here. That was proven a couple years ago when, despite many denials by state officials that there were mountain lions in Connecticut, one was killed on the Merritt Parkway (that poor animal had traveled here all the way from South Dakota and quite possibly had been in Ridgefield since there were several “sightings” here.)
That said, there are two poisonous snakes whose ranges include western Connecticut: the timber rattlesnake and the copperhead.
It is very unlikely that any rattlers live here, while it is possible that some copperheads do.
Rattlesnakes were definitely once here. In 1718, the town fathers sold land at “Ye Rattle Snake Swamp,” somewhere north of Route 35, South Salem Road, and west of Peaceable Street. Other places in town were called “ye West Rattle Hole,” “West Rattle Rocks,” and just “the Rattle Holes.”
The names disappeared from old deeds by the 1760s, suggesting that their namesakes were mostly driven out; settlers were not interested in making friends with this deadly snake (although it’s shy and not aggressive — it takes a good bit of disturbing to get it to even sound its rattles). The settlers also cut down most of the forests that the snakes like.
The last rattler report in Ridgefield may have been March 31, 1938, when Joseph Dlhy said his “big hound dog” died after being bitten by a rattlesnake in Ridgebury woods (Dlhy’s farm is now the Ridgefield Golf Course, where geese have been a bigger problem than snakes).
Rattlesnakes are pretty easy to identify because an irked one rattles. Copperheads are trickier. Many people report they’ve seen a “copperhead,” but invariably, it has been a northern watersnake or something similar. However, a copperhead has a true copper-colored head that is pretty distinctive and rarely seen.
Incidentally, poisonous snakes almost always have triangular heads, a shape that accommodates their venom glands. The northern watersnake has apparently taken advantage of that fact and, like the viceroy butterfly that mimics the appearance of the awful-tasting monarch, imitates the rattler by being able to compress its head to look like a viper.
Ophidiaphobes — persons afraid of snakes — may be somewhat comforted in knowing the odds are extremely slim that they would run across a poisonous snake, and even slimmer they’d be bitten. State wildlife officials report between 1950 and 2004, only six people were bitten by rattlesnakes in Connecticut.
As for copperheads, their bite is less potent — one expert compared it to a “bad bee sting” — and is probably almost as rare.
All snakes, poisonous or otherwise, are important to our environment, especially in controlling rodents. So be kind to your local serpents.