Snakebit is another short story in the Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch universe. This one features less Charley Stevens and more Mike Bowditch.

Mike is on patrol when a report comes in of a rattlesnake off one of the nearby trails. Mike is dumbfounded because there have been no rattlesnakes in Maine for a hundred years. Regardless, he checks it out. The only thing he finds is two lovebirds in delicato. That night, he’s called to the scene of a party in a sand pit where a young man was apparently bitten by a rattlesnake. One of the other partygoers managed to kill the thing, but Maine hospitals no longer keep anti-venom around since there has been no cause to use it.

Asking around, he learns of two scientists who live between both of the two locations. They were once known for harvesting anti-venom from snakes until there was a terrible accident that resulted in the husband having a stroke. They closed up shop and moved to a remote area of Maine with their two daughters, whom they homeschool. Mike tries to make contact with them, believing that they are still harboring poisonous snakes. In the past, they argued for the reintroduction of extinct snakes that were once native species, including rattlers.

Snakebit is pretty much a whodunit. Mike knows the two sightings can’t be just snakes reclaiming territory. He’s sure they have to have come from somewhere, and the scientists make the most likely suspects. Still, it’s pretty much impossible to get on their property and have a look around. He is rebuffed at every attempt to even just talk to them. It’s their estranged daughter who has something to say about the situation, but her story is quite different than what he gets out of the wife. Who is lying, and how did those snakes turn up in the wild?

I have to say it kept me guessing for the most part. I had an idea of what was going on, but I didn’t grasp the entire story until it was revealed. I do enjoy it when Doiron sets the story in areas I’m more familiar with – in this case, the Causeway in Naples, Maine. His descriptions of the forest and sights in Maine really bring it to life. I could smell the pine scent in the air. His writing just immerses me in scenery I know so well.

Mike is on his own here except for some interaction with the other wardens, who still resent him. Mike has a tendency to keep at something he’s told to stay away from, and this is no different. However, the people he works with are often presented as indifferent to concerns or looking for the easiest way to collect their paychecks.

There’s also some food for thought here. We talk about reintroducing controversial species to the wild, such as the wolves in Yellowstone. Would you really want to apply the same to rattlesnakes? Why wolves but not rattlesnakes? The story makes the case that it might happen regardless, thanks to climate change, but is reintroducing a native venomous species a good idea? As much as I’m an environmentalist, I tend to think not.

Snakebit is a solid short story that augments the series’ books. It doesn’t really advance Mike much as a character or fill in any blanks, but the story fits well with what I know of Mike from reading the series up until now. If you haven’t read the series, I think you could still pick it up and read it. There are just some nuances to the characters that would be more difficult to grasp.