Plan To Introduce Rattlesnakes To Rattlesnake Mountain Met With Concern

In what would be an unprecedented move, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources is planning to revise its management plan to include the introduction and settlement of actual, living rattlesnakes to the Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area.

Assistant Vice Commissioner of Public Lands, Emily Powell, is in favor of the change, “We can really gain some better alignment between the names of our beautiful resources here in Washington State and the wildlife inhabiting those resources.  Although not native to the western part of the state, having the Western Rattlesnake on the mountain would reduce confusion and help better align place names with the animals inhabiting them.”

US Forest Ranger Roscoe Green of the Snoqualmie Ranger District in North Bend also approves of the plan, “I always get the same question from hikers planning a hike up Rattlesnake Ledge – are there any rattlesnakes on Rattlesnake Mountain?  I always say ‘yes, of course there are – have you seen the name of the mountain?’, so with this move, I will no longer be lying.  It also introduces the danger of deadly snakebite to hikers, and this may help reduce traffic on our hiking trails already facing over-capacity.  It’s a win-win situation, really.”

Si View resident Thomas Fleming is an opponent of the idea, “This is totally unnecessary.  Do tigers live on Tiger Mountain?  No!  Are there any cougars on Cougar Mountain?  No!  Is there a mailbox at the top of Mailbox Peak?  Of course not!  That would be absurd, and frankly so is this idea.”

The Western Rattlesnake can be identified by the wide triangular head, a diamond-shaped pattern of scales on the back, and of course, its trademark rattle at the end of the tail.  The venom of a rattlesnake is only sometimes delivered in a quantity which is fatal to a human being.

The 1,876-acre Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area forms part of the southern mountainous ridge of the Snoqualmie Valley.