REPORT OF POSSIBLE RATTLESNAKE SIGHTING IN THURSTON NATURE CENTER.

     Three  adults  and one teenager reported sighting what  they 
believed  to be a Mississauga
rattlesnake  at  1:00p.m.,  Monday, June  1,  on the trail north from 
Thurston School toward
Bluett.  The  Humane Society was called;  the snake was not captured.   
It was reported to be
about three feet long,  have four rattles, and have circumference 
somewhere between that of a
quarter and a half dollar.  The group observed the snake for about 45 
minutes. Below is follow-up
on this issue.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens
    The  person  contacted there commented that these snakes  are 
indigenous to this part of the
country and that they are  present in  the  Botanical Gardens,  off 
Dixboro,  between  Plymouth
and Geddes.  Visitors to the Botanical Gardens have no doubt seen the 
advice  to  visitors.   The
person on the phone  suggested  that, above all,  leave a snake alone.   
She also suggested that
people should  watch  where they are walking and that they  should  wear 
sturdy   shoes,   not
sandals.    She  cited  an  article  about Mississauga  rattlesnakes that 
appeared in the Ann Arbor
News  in 1985,  Sunday,  May 26,  Outdoor Section,  as a way to learn 
more about these snakes.

Urban Forestry Division, City of Ann Arbor
     Said  that the Mississauga rattlesnake is indigenous to this part of 
the country.   Said he knew
of their presence at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and around the Radrick 
Bog.   Because two
deer were  also sighted on Memorial Day Weekend,  roaming Prairie  and 
other  Bromley streets,
it seemed prudent to ask if some sort of recent construction project 
might be dislodging wild
animals.  He said he knew of nothing of that sort in the past couple of 
weeks.  He  commented
that the Thurston Nature Center is  of  sufficient size  to  support deer 
and that the deer
population is up  state-wide  due  to  a succession of warm  winters--1  
million  is  the capacity
and  they  estimate  a current population  of  about  2 million.  So, he 
thought we might expect to
continue to see deer.
     He  also  commented that finding a rattlesnake  in  Thurston Nature  
Center  would  be  within
his  view  of  the  realm   of possibility, although he knew of no 
sightings within Ann Arbor in the
past.   He viewed these snakes to be a public health risk, particularly 
to small children or to those
with health  problems.  He  cited  fatalities of two and three year olds 
from bites  from this
species  of  snake in  communities  in  northern  Michigan, 
particularly   in  cottage  areas  near
lakes  during   basement excavations.   He  urged that the animal control 
division of  the Police
Department  be  contacted and said  that  their  strategy would,  as he 
understood it,  involve
capture and relocation.

Animal control division of Ann Arbor Police Department.
     If  anyone sights the snake,  call 911.   They will  respond 
immediately (they said the Humane
Society has a much larger  area to service and can take longer to 
respond).   An officer equipped
to  handle  this kind of call will be on duty from 6:30  a.m.  to 9:30  
p.m.  Monday  through
Saturday (except  Monday  afternoons, late).   The  officer  contacted  
urged BHA  to  pass
along  the following to its Newsletter readers:  do NOT attempt to 
apprehend the snake yourself,
even if you are accustomed to handling snakes or have a pet snake.   Let 
them do it.   The
officer said he will take  a  tour  through the area and will keep 
coming  back  on  a regular basis.
FULL NEWSLETTER TO FOLLOW IN A FEW DAYS
The former was distributed, Tuesday, June 2, 1992.