Rattlesnake FAQts
Trivia - Vocabulary - Miscellany
Fear of snakes is called Ophidiophobia
It is never safe to pick up a rattlesnake! They are wonderful creatures to observe and to study, but they are not pets. They do not deserve the hatred and fear that they are often accorded. They do deserve your respect.
Baby Rattlesnakes are formed within eggs, but the eggs hatch while still within the female. The young are born live. Thus the rattlesnake is both oviparous (egg-bearing) and viviparous (live-bearing). This quality is called ovoviviparity
Rattlesnakes have one of the most evolved venom-injection methods of any venomous creature. The fangs lie flat against the roof of the mouth, and fold out for use. A snake with this type of dentition is referred to as a solenoglyph.
A rattlesnake is born with a button on the end of its tail. With its first shedding, it gains its first rattle segment, and it gains a new one each time it sheds. Because a snake can shed its skin several times a year at a rate that is different for each individual, and because rattle segments frequently break off, there is no correlation between the number of rattles and a snake's age.
Rattlesnakes in captivity have developed rattles with as many as thirteen segments
The rattle of a rattlesnake doesn't sound much like a rattle. It sounds more like frying bacon! Here is an example:
Rattlesnake sound
The striking range of a large (6') adult rattlesnake is approximately 3' - half the length of its body. A rattlesnake cannot launch itself into the air! A rattlesnake has enough energy for two or three strikes, but then must rest, and can strike only feebly. The strike and the venom evolved for hunting purposes, and are only used in self-defense as a last resort. First, the snake will put up a fearsome display (the coil, the rattle), and if possible, try to escape.
When in defense posture, a rattlesnake's tongue extends fully, and flaps up and down at a rate of about twice per second.
Like other snakes, a rattlesnake uses its tongue to smell. The tongue is composed of two slender cylinders which part at the tip (hence the forked appearance), which are contained in a sheath in the floor of the mouth. They flick in and out of the mouth quickly, bringing samples of the outside air and its smells to a special organ, called Jacobsen's organ, which relays information to the brain about smells in the environment. Rattlesnakes are also members of the Pit viper subfamily, possessing special organs, called pit organs, located on either side of the snout. These organs are heat-sensitive, and allow the snake to track, locate, and capture its prey in total darkness.
Rattlesnakes are extremely curious about the world around them. Once, while I was hunting sidewinders to photograph in Eastern California, I was out walking in the desert at night. I was following my footprints from the previous night's junket, and I came across a footprint that told an amazing story. A snake track led right up to the print, where the snake had carefully investigated my scent, and (probably)the lingering warmth from my foot's brief contact with the sand, as evidenced by the sweeping strokes that almost obliterated the print. The track then continued in a sinuous line away from my footprint. It gave me a chill to think that, while I was studying them, they were just as carefully studying me! Click here to see my photo of the footprint.
Rattlesnakes are highly adaptive. Different species of rattlesnakes can be diurnal (active during the day), nocturnal (active during the night), or crepuscular (active at dawn and/or dusk), depending on the climate, the season, and the needs of the particular species with regards to regulating body warmth, and availablility of prey.
Rattlesnakes are primarily thigmothermic, receiving warmth primarily from contact with warm surfaces, and only use heliothermic means (i.e. basking in the sun) as a secondary way of maintaining body temperature.
A personal observation: Being both a crotalophile (rattlesnake lover) and cat lover, I have repeatedly observed the similarities between rattlers and tabby cats. To wit: Markings: blotched, irregular concentric diamonds, a distinctive stripe pattern on the face, and concentric banding on the tail.
Eyes: luminescent yellow, with vertical slits.
Behavior: seeks warmth, will readily allow itself to be held because of this, but is rather aloof and fickle about when it wants to be held.
Bites: are nasty. Sheaths of bacteria on the teeth are injected under the skin of prey when biting, helping to break down the tissues for consumption.
While there is no reason to believe that rattlesnakes and tabby cats share a common evolutionary ancestor, I feel that this is compelling evidence for the concept of parallel development: i.e. a good evolutionary trick (deceptive coloration for camoflage, a septic bite to kill prey) works just as well for a mammal as it does for a reptile.
Rattlesnakes cannot, and need not, dig their own dens. They take over the dens of rodents they prey on.
Rattlesnakes have four distinct methods of locomotion, which are used to a greater or lesser degree by all members of the genera:
Undulatory: The most common and familiar form of snake locomotion, where the body takes a sinuous path as the snake uses rocks, protrusions, piles of dirt, grass or other vegetation to push and pull its way along.
Accordion: where a slow, steady approach is necessary over a small distance (as in stalking prey), or where there is very little traction, the rattlesnake may form its body into accordion pleats, plant the rear half, pick up and move the front half forward, pick up and move the rear half forward, and repeat this action, much as an inchworm moves, with the exception that the body is pleated horizontally on the ground rather than held vertically in a loop.
Rectilinear: The snake's belly scutes pull the snake along in a straight line, lifting to get a purchase, then pushing back to propel the body forward.
Sidewinding: Practiced by the desert dweller C. Cerastes, the snake picks up and sets down its body in a looping motion, a method of locomotion well suited to a loose, shifting medium like sand.
Male rattlesnakes perform an intriguing dance, which is believed to be a way of establishing dominance for mating and/or territorial purposes (much like the head-butting contests of the horned mammals). In the dance, the snakes will twine around each other, raise up to full height face to face, and generally look very much as if they are preparing to mate. Only males participate in this dance.
The male rattlesnake has two penises, called hemipenes, each of which is bifurcated, giving the appearance of four organs.
Rattlesnake venom is less potent than that of the honeybee. It is the quantity of venom that makes the rattlesnake's bite more dangerous.