Common name: Timber Rattlesnake
Scientific name: Crotalus horridus Linnaeus, 1758

Class:
Reptilia (Reptiles)
Order:
Squamata (Lizards, Snakes and Amphisbaenians)
Family:
Viperidae (Vipers and Pit Vipers)
Synonyms:
Other common names:

Habitat type(s):
Habitat description(s)
Palustrine:
FORESTED WETLAND, Riparian, SCRUB-SHRUB WETLAND
Terrestrial:
Forest - Hardwood, Forest - Conifer, Forest - Mixed, Woodland - Hardwood, Woodland - Conifer, Woodland - Mixed, Shrubland/chaparral, Bare rock/talus/scree, Cliff

Ecological systems and subsytems (about):
TERRESTRIAL - BARRENS AND WOODLANDS:
Acidic talus slope woodland (guide)
An open to closed canopy woodland that occurs on talus slopes (slopes of boulders and rocks, often at the base of cliffs) composed of non-calcareous rocks such as granite, quartzite, or schist.
TERRESTRIAL - FORESTED UPLANDS:
Appalachian oak-hickory forest (guide)
A hardwood forest that occurs on well-drained sites, usually on ridgetops, upper slopes, or south- and west-facing slopes. The soils are usually loams or sandy loams. This is a broadly defined forest community with several regional and edaphic variants. The dominant trees include red oak, white oak, and/or black oak. Mixed with the oaks, usually at lower densities, are pignut, shagbark, and/or sweet pignut hickory.
TERRESTRIAL - FORESTED UPLANDS:
Appalachian oak-pine forest (guide)
A mixed forest that occurs on sandy soils, sandy ravines in pine barrens, or on slopes with rocky soils that are well-drained. The canopy is dominated by a mixture of oaks and pines.
TERRESTRIAL - FORESTED UPLANDS:
Beech-maple mesic forest (guide)
A hardwood forest with sugar maple and American beech codominant. This is a broadly defined community type with several variants. These forests occur on moist, well-drained, usually acid soils. Common associates are yellow birch, white ash, hop hornbeam, and red maple.
TERRESTRIAL - OPEN UPLANDS:
Calcareous cliff community (guide)
A community that occurs on vertical exposures of resistant, calcareous bedrock (such as limestone or dolomite) or consolidated material; these cliffs often include ledges and small areas of talus.
TERRESTRIAL - BARRENS AND WOODLANDS:
Calcareous talus slope woodland (guide)
An open or closed canopy community that occurs on talus slopes composed of calcareous bedrock such as limestone or dolomite. The soils are usually moist and loamy; there may be numerous rock outcrops.
TERRESTRIAL - FORESTED UPLANDS:
Chestnut oak forest (guide)
A hardwood forest that occurs on well-drained sites in glaciated portions of the Appalachians, and on the coastal plain. This forest is similar to the Allegheny oak forest; it is distinguished by fewer canopy dominants and a less diverse shrublayer and groundlayer flora. Dominant trees are typically chestnut oak and red oak.
TERRESTRIAL - OPEN UPLANDS:
Cliff community (guide)
A community that occurs on vertical exposures of resistant, non-calcareous bedrock (such as quartzite, sandstone, or schist) or consolidated material; these cliffs often include ledges and small areas of talus.
PALUSTRINE - FORESTED MINERAL SOIL WETLANDS:
Floodplain forest (guide)
A hardwood forest that occurs on mineral soils on low terraces of river floodplains and river deltas. These sites are characterized by their flood regime; low areas are annually flooded in spring, and high areas are flooded irregularly.
TERRESTRIAL - FORESTED UPLANDS:
Hemlock-northern hardwood forest (guide)
A mixed forest that typically occurs on middle to lower slopes of ravines, on cool, mid-elevation slopes, and on moist, well-drained sites at the margins of swamps. Eastern hemlock is present and is often the most abundant tree in the forest.
TERRESTRIAL - BARRENS AND WOODLANDS:
Limestone woodland (guide)
A woodland that occurs on shallow soils over limestone bedrock in non-alvar settings, and usually includes numerous rock outcrops. There are usually several codominant trees, although one species may become dominant in any one stand.
TERRESTRIAL - FORESTED UPLANDS:
Maple-basswood rich mesic forest (guide)
A species rich hardwood forest that typically occurs on well-drained, moist soils of circumneutral pH. Rich herbs are predominant in the ground layer and are usually correlated with calcareous bedrock, although bedrock does not have to be exposed. The dominant trees are sugar maple, basswood, and white ash.
TERRESTRIAL - FORESTED UPLANDS:
Oak-tulip tree forest (guide)
A hardwood forest that occurs on moist, well-drained sites in southeastern New York. The dominant trees include a mixture of five or more of the following: red oak, tulip tree, American beech, black birch, red maple, scarlet oak, black oak, and white oak.
TERRESTRIAL - BARRENS AND WOODLANDS:
Pitch pine-oak-heath rocky summit (guide)
A community that occurs on warm, dry, rocky ridgetops and summits where the bedrock is non-calcareous (such as quartzite, sandstone, or schist), and the soils are more or less acidic. This community is broadly defined and includes examples that may lack pines and are dominated by scrub oak and/or heath shrubs apparently related to fire regime.
TERRESTRIAL - BARRENS AND WOODLANDS:
Red cedar rocky summit (guide)
A community that occurs on warm, dry, rocky ridgetops and summits where the bedrock is calcareous (such as limestone or dolomite, but also marble, amphibolite, and calcsilicate rock), and the soils are more or less calcareous. The vegetation may be sparse or patchy, with numerous lichen covered rock outcrops.
TERRESTRIAL - OPEN UPLANDS:
Rocky summit grassland (guide)
A grassland community that occurs on rocky summits and exposed rocky slopes of hills. Woody plants are sparse and may be scattered near the margin of the community. Small trees and shrubs may be present at low percent cover.
TERRESTRIAL - OPEN UPLANDS:
Shale cliff and talus community (guide)
A community that occurs on nearly vertical exposures of shale bedrock and includes ledges and small areas of talus. Talus areas are composed of small fragments that are unstable and steeply sloping; the unstable nature of the shale results in uneven slopes and many rock crevices.
PALUSTRINE - OPEN MINERAL SOIL WETLANDS:
Shallow emergent marsh (guide)
A marsh meadow community that occurs on soils that are permanently saturated and seasonally flooded. This marsh is better drained than a deep emergent marsh; water depths may range from 6 in to 3.3 ft (15 cm to 1 m) during flood stages, but the water level usually drops by mid to late summer and the soil is exposed during an average year.
PALUSTRINE - OPEN MINERAL SOIL WETLANDS:
Shrub swamp (guide)
An inland wetland dominated by tall shrubs that occurs along the shore of a lake or river, in a wet depression or valley not associated with lakes, or as a transition zone between a marsh, fen, or bog and a swamp or upland community. Shrub swamps are very common and quite variable.

Conservation:
Global conservation status rank:
G4
Apparently Secure globally - Uncommon in the world but not rare; usually widespread, but may be rare in some parts of its range; possibly some cause for long-term concern due to declines or other factors.
State conservation status rank:
S3
Vulnerable in New York - Vulnerable to disappearing from New York due to rarity or other factors (but not currently imperiled); typically 21 to 80 populations or locations in New York, few individuals, restricted range, few remaining acres (or miles of stream), and/or recent and widespread declines.
Federal protection:
Not Listed
State protection:
Threatened
Listed as Threatened by New York State: likely to become Endangered in the foreseeable future. For animals, taking, importation, transportation, or possession is prohibited, except under license or permit. For plants, removal or damage without the consent of the landowner is prohibited.
SGCN:
NYNHP track status:
Y: Track all extant and selected historical EOs

More information:
Conservation guide:
https://guides.nynhp.org/timber-rattlesnake/
NatureServe explorer link:
https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100455/Crotalus_horridus/