Two Massachusetts hikers captured an amazing video of two entwined rattlesnakes engaged in a brutal fight.
Elementary teacher Erin Noonan and her partner Susan Maloney, a teacher at Parker Elementary School, captured the wild footage during their weekly nature walk. “We have a little hiking club,” Noonan explained CBS output WBZ News. “We chat and walk and there were two of them [male hikers] they were a little behind, stopped and shouted at us.”
The group was shocked to see two rattlesnakes in the middle of their path, entwined and engaged in what appeared to be a dance. According to Mass Wildlife, the two snakes were actually fighting. It is incredibly rare for a human to witness such a sight, let alone capture it on camera. Noonan and Maloney plan to use the footage to teach their students about wildlife.
“They like to study snakes and frogs,” Noonan noted. “Why don't we learn a little about snakes? Why don't we learn about them?”
Jesse Leddick, assistant wildlife director for natural heritage and endangered species, said there are only five or six rattlesnake populations left in Massachusetts. “They've been here for thousands of years. There aren't many of them left,” he explained, adding that habitat loss, vehicle accidents and disease have all contributed to decimating the state's rattlesnake population.
Although they are now a protected species, Leddick noted that “there really were rattlesnake bounties in the late 1800s.”
Despite nature's majestic splendor, Noonan and Maloney wanted to capture their footage and quickly retire. “What if you bit me? What should you do?” Noonan recalled asking his buddy.
Leddick advises that if you are bitten by a rattlesnake, call 911 immediately and find your way to the nearest hospital. Many hospitals, including several in Massachusetts, are equipped with rattlesnake venom. Don't try to suck out the poison yourself, which Leddick calls an “old wives' tale.”