What's wrong with Templeton's snake-shooting ad? Eastern diamondback is endangered

Catherine Templeton may have picked the wrong snake to figuratively shoot in her latest campaign advertisement.

In the 30-second ad, the Republican candidate for governor brandishes a pistol that her "granddaddy" gave her to "shoot the snakes around our fishing trailer" in Fair Play.

The ad then shows an image of a snake, followed by footage of Templeton firing two shots.

"We can't shoot the snakes slithering around Columbia," Templeton says in the ad. "But we will end their poisonous, big-government ways."

The snake that Templeton is shown shooting at is an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, according to Robert McCullough, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources.

The species is considered "at-risk" and has been listed as a "species of concern" in South Carolina by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

No snake was harmed in the making of the ad, according to Templeton's campaign spokesman, Mark Powell.

It would be very unlikely to find an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake in Fair Play, or anywhere else in the Upstate, according the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Diamond rattlesnakes are restricted to the Lower Coastal Plain of the Southeast, from southern North Carolina to eastern Louisiana," states a 2016 fact sheet from the agency.

The population of Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes has dwindled primarily because of a loss of habitat and mortality from automobiles.

No special protections are currently in place in South Carolina for Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, McCullough said. There also are no state laws prohibiting the shooting of snakes, unless they are within state parks, he said.

Steve Bennett, a retired herpetologist with the Department of Natural Resources, said it is "incredibly irresponsible" to suggest shooting or killing rattlesnakes.

"Ms. Templeton's ad perpetuates a stereotype that is rooted in ignorance and extreme bias," said Bennett, adding that he learned during a 17-year research project in Hampton County that rattlesnakes almost always seek to avoid interacting with humans.

At least five people left negative comments about shooting snakes on the ad's YouTube page.

A Democratic legislator, state Rep. Justin Bamberg, tweeted Wednesday that the ad's premise was "not a brilliant idea."

Powell issued a statement Thursday about the ad.

“The constantly outraged liberal left can take a deep breath. No snakes were harmed during the making of this commercial," Powell said. "Truth is, they’re just terrified of Catherine Templeton’s strong conservative reform agenda — and they should be.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2018 at 7:51 AM with the headline "What's wrong with Templeton's snake-shooting ad? Eastern diamondback is endangered."