A Super Nest of 2,000 Rattlesnakes in Colorado is Growing Larger at Summer’s End as Newborns Arrive.
Thanks to a livestream video, scientists studying a rattlesnake den on a rugged hillside in Colorado are learning more about the rattlesnake, a reptile often misunderstood. They are observing the baby snakes slithering among the adult females on lichen-covered rocks. The community can also follow the movements of the snake den on the RattleCam Project website and help identify the snakes. Since researchers activated the remote camera in May, several snakes have become famous with nicknames including “Woodstock,” “Thea,” and “Agent 008,” according to Yahoo.
Baby rattlesnakes in a rattlesnake den in Colorado. (Photo: RattleCam Project/Youtube).
On August 29, the livestream showed a group of newborn snakes with tiny rattles. Each rattlesnake adds one rattle segment every time it sheds its skin (averaging twice a year). The RattleCam Project is a collaborative effort between California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Central Coast Snake Services, and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. By engaging the community, the research team hopes to dispel the notion that rattlesnakes are often scary and dangerous. In fact, experts say they rarely bite unless threatened or provoked.
Rattlesnakes are among the few reptiles that care for their young, even tending to the offspring of others. Adult snakes protect and use their bodies to warm the newborns from birth until they hibernate in mid-fall, according to Max Roberts, a researcher at California Polytechnic State University. “We often observe pregnant females trying to protect newly born snakes in the den,” Roberts shared.
As many as 2,000 rattlesnakes spend the winter in a secret location on private land, kept confidential by the research team to prevent intruders. When the weather warms up, only pregnant females remain in the den, while the others disperse into nearby territories. This year, scientists continue to monitor the rattlesnake den in Colorado, observing rattlesnakes coiling into cup shapes and collecting water to drink from their bodies. They also witnessed how the snakes react when birds descend to forage.
A crucial time in summer occurs in late August and early September when rattlesnakes give birth over a two-week period. Right after birth, the newborn snakes already know to move to sunny spots or crawl into shaded areas to regulate their body temperature, according to Roberts.
There are 36 species of rattlesnakes, most of which live in the United States. They are found in nearly every state, particularly common in the southwestern region. The species currently being studied is the Western rattlesnake, located in the central and western United States as well as Canada and Mexico. Like other pit vipers, rattlesnakes do not lay eggs. Instead, they give birth to live young, with an average litter size of eight, depending on the size of the snake.
Roberts is investigating how temperature changes and ultraviolet rays in sunlight affect snake behavior. Another graduate student, Owen Bachhuber, is studying the family and social relations of rattlesnakes. Currently, summer in the Rocky Mountains is cooling down, and some males have returned. By November, the solar-powered camera and battery will be turned off until next spring when the snakes emerge from their super nest.
