Section D · Page 16
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, August 16, 1999
Naturalist continues snake-chasing
He would rather have a snake bite than a serum
Most people run from rattlesnakes. Henry Fitch chases them.
By John Franey Kansan staff writer
Fitch has been bitten by snakes too many times to recall but only six times by poisonous species. Twice rattlers and four times copperheads have struck.
Bookshelves full of volumes with titles such as "The Lizards of Costa Rica" and "Snakes of California" surround Fitch in the dining room of the modest ranch home that sits on the reservation. Daily log books lie scattered about. On the wall above the couch hangs the painting of a bright green lizard. Anolis fitchii the title.
"Copperheads normally don't kill people," he said. "In fact snake-bite serum is harder to take than a copperhead bite. I would rather have a copperhead bite."
Fitch, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology for whom the 590-acre Fitch Natural History Reservation is named, has been chasing snakes and nearly every other animal that slithers, flies or crawls most of his life. He will turn 90 this Christmas.
The iguana-like lizard was discovered in the Andes in 1971 by William E. Duellman, curator emeritus of herpetology at KU's Natural History Museum, and named for his long-time colleague because Fitch had the only published field observations of the lizards.
"I used to hunt snakes when I was little," Fitch said. "Everyone was afraid of them, and if I had one, I could cause a group of adults to scatter. It was a powerful feeling."
"It it's quite an honor to have a species named after you," Fitch said.
The lizard is not the only species named for Fitch. There are other animals with the fitchi moniker, and he has discovered and named several new species himself.
Fitch grew up on an apple and peach orchard in the Rogue River Valley of southern Oregon. There he began studying animals of all types at an early age, which led him to pursue a degree in zoology at the University of Oregon. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1930, he headed to the University of California at Berkeley for his master's and doctorate degrees.
However, he is probably best known for his ongoing 50-year study of the ecology as a whole on the Natural History Reservation, where he has lived and conducted his research with Virginia, his wife of 53 years.
He joined the KU faculty as an ecology instructor and Director of the Natural History Reserve in 1948.
"I used to hunt snakes when I was little. Everyone was afraid of them, and if I had one, I could cause a group of adults to scatter. It was a powerful feeling."
"When Henry and I were going together, we used to spend our dates snake hunting," Virginia said.
One of the most respected naturalists in the world, Fitch has published more than 150 papers dealing not only with snakes, but also with mammals, birds, spiders, mollusks and plants. His latest publication, a book titled "A Kansas Snake Community: Composition and Change Over 50 Years" is an indepth study of the snakes on the reservation. It's the longest study of its kind on record.
She has continued to work
Henry Fitch
professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology
with him in the field and at home on the reservation where they raised their three children. Two of the children, Alice and John, are now college biology professors in other states. The third, Chet, a carpenter and handyman, lives nearby and occasionally helps his father out on the reservation.
Although the reservation has been Fitch's home since 1948, his research has taken him all over the world from the semiarid San Joaquin Valley of central California where he conducted research on red tailed hawks and rattlesnakes, to the lush rain forests of Nicaragua.
There he helped the Sandanista government in the '80's with an iguanas conservation program. Iguanas are an important source of protein for Central Americans, and because of excessive hunting, their numbers are dwindling.
Trapping animals and trudging through deserts and rain forests can be dangerous work. A rattlesnake bite in California caused Fitch's arm to swell to three times its normal size. It left him immobilized for days, but he didn't go to the hospital. (I lost my wife.)
got a snot or serum, Fitch said.
"I'm glad I didn't have to go through the rattlesnake bites, that was before we were married," Virginia said. "The copperhead bites are bad enough."
"I just went to the doctor and got a shot of serum." Fitch said.
But the snake bites were minor compared to the accident Fitch had on the reserve last
March when he became disoriented and fell 20 feet into a ravine.
While tagging trees on the reservation for a plant succession study, he lost track of time and was overdue for his daily snack of fruit needed to bolster his blood sugar.
He has been a diabetic for 26 years. Suffering from an insulin reaction, he lost his way in the dark and ended up at the bottom of a ravine.
Worried when he was late,
Virginia called the Douglas
County Sheriff's Department,
and the search for Fitch began.
Weakened from hypoglycemia and unable to move because of a leg injury he suffered in the fall, he spent a cold night in the ravine as he helplessly watched a search helicopter circle overhead.
Unable to locate Fitch in the dense woods, the search party of nearly 100 was called off around 4:30 a.m.
The search resumed at first light, and Fitch was found four hours later. He was taken out of the woods and flown to the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Henry Fitch, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology, walks on a trail at the 590-acre Fitch Natural History Reservation. Photo by John Franev/KANSAN
"They practically nikednapped me," Fitch said. "They held me for two days before I finally persuaded them to let me out."
The accident didn't keep him down for long. He has resumed his research, and although he retired in 1981, he still teaches elementary, high school and KU
biology classes about natural history on the reserve.
"I think it's known as fortitude," William E. Duellman said of Fitch.
Duellman said Fitch has set a standard for all field biologists.
"That's his backyard, and he knows every tree and critter in there," Duellman said.
Trail was established. It's a well-marked trail approximately two miles long that winds through what herpetologists have called the best-known square mile in the world.
Two years ago on the reservation, the Henry S. Fitch Nature
The trail is open year round from dawn to dusk and is a tribute to the naturalist for whom it is named.
Edited by Anjum Aziz
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