Residents cautioned to keep grass trimmed Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
A Havre family Wednesday found a rattlesnake already dead on the southeast corner of town, raising concerns that the reptiles may be moving out of the high hills. Charlene McAuley said her grandson, five-year-old Trevor McAuley-Beck, found the snake about noon at Bert Unruh Memorial Park near Havre High School. She said he made her proud he remembered to immediately run to find an adult. “He came running and said Gramma, Gramma there’s a rattlesnake,’” she said. Trevor said finding the snake scared him, and it made him remember to find an adult. Representatives of Havre-area law enforcement and the Hill County Extension Office said they have had no reports of rattlesnakes in town yet. However, Hill County Planner and Sanitarian Clay Vincent said that this time of year is when snakes will start to move to lower areas. “The drier it gets, these snakes are going to tend to move to greener areas where rodents are,” he said. He said it is very common for people to start reporting snakes this time of year. Reports often come in about snakes in the area from the Highland Park cemetary to Montana State University-Northern, and from the southern area especially around the walking path on the dike south of Havre. Vincent said people can reduce the chance of a bite by keeping their grass cut, which will make the snakes easier to see and reduce habitat for their prey. Charlene McAuley said she doesn’t know how the snake died. It had a hole in its body that might have been made by a bird carrying it, she said. She added that she plans to skin the snake and salt the skin down to give to Trevor.
