For many people, a “megaden” of up to 2,000 rattlesnakes isn’t the most interesting thing to see. But a 24/7 webcam in Colorado offers scientists and other snake enthusiasts the opportunity to watch, and their observations help expand understanding of these unusual and undeservedly maligned reptiles.
The remote site on private land in northern Colorado sits on a mountainside filled with rocky crevices where snakes can stay warm and hide from predators.
“This is a big, big rattlesnake den. This is one of the largest events we know of,” Emily Taylor, a biology professor at California Polytechnic State University who is leading the RattleCam project, said Tuesday.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology installed webcams in May, leveraging knowledge gained from previous webcams they installed at rattlesnake dens in California. Taylor said the exact location in Colorado is being kept secret to deter snake lovers or haters.
Compared to southwestern rattlesnakes, high-elevation Colorado rattlesnakes spend the winter in dens and emerge in the spring, with a shorter active season. At this time of year, only pregnant females are present in the dens, while the males migrate to nearby lowland areas.
In August, the babies will be born. They are called pups, and unlike almost all other reptiles, they do not hatch from eggs but are born alive.
Unlike other snakes, rattlesnake mothers care for their young, protecting them from predators and protecting them with their bodies. Sometimes rattlesnakes will even care for the young of other rattlesnakes.
“Rattlesnakes are actually very good mothers. People don’t know that,” Taylor said.
Webcams help scientists observe snake behavior without interruption. Meanwhile, people watching online will inform scientists about events they missed or provide them with clues using their own knowledge of the local environment.
“This is really a collective effort, a community science effort, and we as scientists cannot do it alone,” Taylor said.
Every now and then something dramatic happens.
Red-tailed hawks circled overhead, waiting for their chance to swoop in for a meal. Once, a magpie (a relative of the crow that comes in black, white, and blue colors with a long tail) captured a baby rattlesnake.
When it rains, rattlesnakes will coil up in a circle and drink from the cups formed by their bodies.
Taylor expects snake activity to spike after the babies are born, and even more in September as snakes return from surrounding areas to prepare for winter.
Rattlesnakes have been criticized for being creepy and threatening. But Taylor pointed out that webcams show they are social animals and do not deliberately show aggression.
“I try to be a voice for the underdog and show people that there is a side to rattlesnakes that we can admire,” Taylor said.
