Does mountaintop removal also remove rattlesnakes?
Mining operations in Appalachia permanently alter habitat availability for rattlesnakes January 3, 2018 For Immediate Release Contact: Zoe Gentes, 202-833-8773 ext. 211, zgentes@esa.org On the Cumberland Plateau in eastern Kentucky, surface coal mining is destroying ridgelines and mountaintops, and along with them, the habitat of a surprisingly gentle reptile species – the timber rattlesnake. “Timber rattlesnakes may be…