Timber rattlers are off limits in my area. I’ve killed a few years ago before they went on the list, but I haven’t seen one in years. What I have to watch out for are copperheads and cottonmouths. My best friends brother hunts copperheads in his yard at night with a light and a .22 pistol loaded with rat shot. I think he killed 6 last week. Someone told me once that they hang around oak trees trying to catch and eat cicadas. His yard has lots of oak trees. And evidently lots of snakes.