Timber rattlesnake (by lotterhand)
rhamphotheca: Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
A large (up to 6 ft long) strongly venomous pit viper from the eastern United States, that feeds mostly on small rodents. It is found, usually, in forested areas. This species of rattlesnake is known to over winter in large numbers, and with other species, in communal dens in rock crevices.
(photo: Jonathunder)
Sociable Rattlesnakes Cuddle With Their Kin
by Charles Choi
Though often regarded as loners, rattlesnakes may be relatively social, cuddling up with their relatives, a finding that suggests serpents may have more complex social lives than currently appreciated, researchers say.
Timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) had long been thought to be solitary creatures, though recent studies have suggested their social lives might be more complex. For instance, rattlesnakes in captivity preferentially associate with relatives and use the scents of their kin to guide them on where to forage and dwell. To learn more about how sociable the snakes might actually be, scientists analyzed the genetic closeness of related clusters of the wild serpents.
Timber rattlesnakes living in the northeastern United States dwell in communal dens in the winter. They emerge in the spring, bask in the sun for several days at rock outcrops, and then migrate to surrounding areas to forage and mate. When pregnant, females do not undergo summer migrations, but instead bask at rookeries before giving birth in the autumn. Females in the rookeries often cluster together in groups of six or more, as do snakes at basking sites on occasion…
(read more: Live Science) (photo: Rulin Clark)
fortheloveofherpetology: Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
- These snakes prefer moist lowland forests and hilly woodlands or thickets near permanent water sources such as rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and swamps where tree stumps, logs and branches provide refuge.
- Timber rattlesnakes are found in upland woods and rocky ridges in the eastern United States; the eastern third of Texas.
- Second largest venomous snake in Texas and third largest in the United States
- Adult timber rattlesnakes reach a length of 3 feet
- Timber rattlers, like other pit vipers, do not lay eggs. Instead the eggs are kept inside the female’s body until they are ready to “hatch.” The egg have an estimated incubation time of six months
- Litters consist of between five and 20 young, which are 10 to 17 inches long
- Young may remain near their mother for seven to ten days after birth, but no parental care is provided
- Timber rattlesnakes live up to ten years
- Although diurnal (active during the day) during spring and fall, timber rattlesnakes become nocturnal (active at night) during the oppressive heat of the summer
- Highly venomous, timber rattlesnakes are sometimes slow to defend themselves and rely on their ability to blend into their surroundings to avoid confrontation
- They seek to escape rather than risking danger and will remain silent, and if possible, will hide before revealing their position to a predator. Despite their large size and reputation, they are difficult to provoke into rattling or biting. Still, it does happen.
- According to popular belief, one can tell the age of a rattlesnake by the number of rattles present at the end of its tail. A baby rattlesnake is born with the first segment of its rattle, called a “button”. As the snake grows (and with each molting of its outer skin) an additional segment is added to its rattle. Younger snakes shed more often than older snakes, but on average, free-ranging snakes may molt three to six times a year. Another clue to a snake’s age is its color: timber rattlers darken as they age, and the darkest are old males
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Like all pit vipers, rattlesnakes like this Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) have two organs that can sense radiation: their eyes, and a set of heat-sensing “pits” on their face that enable them to locate prey and strike towards it, based on the prey’s thermal radiation signature. These pits have a relatively short effective range of approximately 1ft, but nevertheless give the rattlesnake a distinctive advantage in hunting for warm-blooded creatures at night.
Rattlesnake eyes, which contain a large number of rod cells, are well adapted to nocturnal use. However rattlesnakes are not exclusively nocturnal, and their vision is more acute during daylight conditions. Rattlesnakes also possess cone cells, which means that they are capable of some form of colour vision. The rattlesnake eye lacks a fovea making it impossible for them to see sharply defined images. Instead, they mostly rely on the perception of movement. Rattlesnake eyes are capable of horizontal rotation, but they do not appear to move their eyeballs to follow moving objects.
Rattlesnakes have an exceptionally keen sense of smell. They can sense olfactory stimuli both through their nostrils, and by flicking their tongue, which carries scent-bearing particles to the Jacobson’s organ in the roof of their mouth.
Like all snakes, rattlesnakes do not have external ear openings, and the structures of their middle ear is not as highly specialized as those of other vertebrates, such as mammals. Thus their sense of sound is not very effective. However, they are capable of sensing vibrations in the ground, passed via the skeleton to the auditory nerve.
Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) (by Frupus)
(via reptiglo)
Timber Rattlesnake, (Crotalus horridus), is a species of venomous pit viper found in the eastern United States. This is the only rattlesnake species in most of the populous northeastern United States.
Potentially, this is one of North America’s most dangerous snakes, due to its long fangs, impressive size and high venom yield. This is to some degree offset by its relatively mild disposition. Before striking, they often do a good deal of preliminary rattling and feinting, shown in this photo. Cist (1845) described how he lived in western Pennsylvania for many years and that the species was quite common there, but in all that time he heard of only a single death resulting from its bite.
Photo taken by John Macey
A Timber Rattlesnake, (Crotalus horridus). Adults usually grow to an average length of 91–152 cm (35.8-59.8 in). Generally, this species is found in deciduous forests in rugged terrain.
During the summer, gravid (pregnant) females seem to prefer open, rocky ledges where the temperatures are higher, while males and non-gravid females tend to spend more time in cooler, denser woodland with a more closed forest canopy. Female timber rattlers often bask in the sun before giving birth, in open rocky areas known as “basking knolls”.
During the winter, Timber Rattlesnakes hibernate in dens, in limestone crevices, often together with Copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix) and Black Rat Snakes (Elaphe obsoleta).
Photo taken by Tad Arensmeier
