Don’t fear Washington state’s only rattler — get to know it, CWU biologist urges

“Shall we go catch some snakes?” asked J.D. Brooks.

It was a sunny afternoon in May, the first hot day of the year in the Columbia Basin. For rattlesnakes, and the researchers who study them, temperature is everything — and Brooks was eager to make the most of a short season.

From late April to early September, when other outdoor enthusiasts are doing their best to avoid Washington’s only venomous snake, Brooks and his fellow graduate students at Central Washington University are on the hunt.

Read more of this story in the Seattle Times.