Conservation efforts to open up rattlesnake habitat bring in much-needed sunlight but could attract more predators

Conservation efforts that open up the canopy of overgrown habitat for threatened timber rattlesnakes—whose venom is used in anticoagulants and other medical treatments—are beneficial to snakes but could come at a cost, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State and the University of Scranton. The researchers confirmed that breeding areas with more open canopies do provide more opportunities for these snakes to reach required body temperatures, but also have riskier predators like hawks and bobcats. The study, which appears in the June issue of the Journal of Herpetology, has important implications for how forest managers might open up snake habitat in the future.

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