Spring danger alert: Where rattlesnakes are most active in NJ right now

I never met my paternal grandfather because he died at 45 before I was born. He was a tough guy, a coal miner who got black lung.

One of the few stories I heard about him from my dad was when they were once hiking in mountains in Pennsylvania and he came upon a nest of rattlesnakes on the trail.

The story went that my grandfather knew many kids walked that trail and didn’t want them to be surprised and hurt by them.

His dad made him stand far back while he found a very solid and heavy branch and used it like a club to attack the nest and kill the rattlesnakes.

Dangerous, but my dad swears he watched him do just that.

I thought of this when I saw a report that was put out by WorldAtlas about the five most rattlesnake-infested areas on the Atlantic Coast. One of them was in New Jersey. And this is a time of year when they are very active and present a danger.

So if you are planning on enjoying nature and taking to some trails and woods this spring, you might want to know where this spot is.

It’s the Pine Barrens. What WorldAtlas says about the rattlesnake danger there:

“This enormous New Jersey forest stands apart along the Atlantic Coast for the pure density and continuity of its rattlesnake populations. Stretching across 1.1 million acres of sandy, acidic woodland and shrubland, the aptly named Pine Barrens provides ideal habitat for timber rattlesnakes, which are at the northern edge of their range in this region. Moreover, its fragmented forests and open sandy ridges create warm and secure den sites that support stable zones to breed and hibernate in.”

Except in spring and autumn, they’re not hibernating. They are very active right now and that’s critical to know to keep safe.

Also, and this is intimidating, they say the conditions in the Pine Barrens are such that rattlesnakes here grow to “substantial sizes.”

Yikes.

You can read more here.

And hey, maybe just don't go to the Pine Barrens? I mean didn't we see that "Sopranos" episode? The guy was an interior decorator!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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