Rattlesnakes

One rattled and coiled up while I was trying to view some wild turkeys along a trail just south of Bobcaygeon!

Eastern Massasaugas (Sistrurus c. catenatus) live East of the Mississippi, ranging from northern Missouri to southern New York and Wisconsin.

No, they are cold blooded. Their body temperature fluctuates with the environment.

Yes they do, but the rattle is not as developed as in adults. It's only a couple of segments, but it's still there. The rattle grows bigger every year by one 'segment' every time they shed their skin.

Yes, Rattlesnakes live only in North and South America, including some islands in the Caribbean Sea.

Yes, all snakes are vertebrates as they have a backbone. Snakes are reptiles and all reptiles are vertebrates. yes
Yes. All reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, and fish are vertebrates.

It is said that the largest rattlesnake on the planet is the Eastern diamondback. The record length for this venomous snake is 96 inches.

Tim Manning, Herp.

If you "google" "Texas" you will see a man with a 9 ft 1 inch 90 lb rattler.it was at Tow, Texas off hwy 281. Northern tip of Lake Buchanan 2007

The supposed 15 foot Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake was not 15 feet long. It was 7 foot and 3 inches and was found in Sept 2009. The largest Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake on record in 8 feet long. None have been found longer. Skins can be deceptive as they can be longer when shed from the snake.

See the related link for a picture of a 14' Western Diamondback rattler taken in Happy Camp, CA., on the weekend of 9/11/10 by a' good friend of mine.

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In Mid July, 2010, a rattlesnake was found near Whitwell, TN that measured:

14ft 9in, 24 rattles, 2 buttons, and 100lbs.

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There has never been a rattlesnake over eight feet long anywhere. But, there are many hoaxes. The eight footer was killed in Carteret County, North Carolina, in 1959.

Although a wide range of reproductive modes are used by snakes, all snakes employ internal fertilization. This is accomplished by means of paired, forked hemipenes, which are stored, inverted, in the male's tail. The hemipenes are often grooved, hooked, or spined in order to grip the walls of the female's cloaca.

Most species of snakes lay eggs, but most snakes abandon the eggs shortly after laying. However, a few species (such as the King cobra) actually construct nests and stay in the vicinity of the hatchlings after incubation. Most pythons coil around their egg-clutches and remain with them until they hatch. A female python will not leave the eggs, except to occasionally bask in the sun or drink water. She will even "shiver" to generate heat to incubate the eggs.

Some species of snake are ovoviviparous and retain the eggs within their bodies until they are almost ready to hatch. Recently, it has been confirmed that several species of snake are fully viviparous, such as the boa constrictor and green anaconda, nourishing their young through a placenta as well as a yolk sac, which is highly unusual among reptiles, or anything else outside of placental mammals. Retention of eggs and live birth are most often associated with colder environments, as the retention of the young within the female.

Their poison is a fluid stored in venom glands in the back of their mouth that will automatically refill itself - so they basically make it themselves.

Some snakes, however, like the Tiger Snake, can sequester the toxins from the animals that they eat. Tiger Snakes sequester bufadienolide compounds from the toxic toads they eat. When they are found in an environment without these toads, however, they lack the toad's toxic bufadienolide compounds completely.

The mother snake can pass these toxin to young, in the egg, and confer a degree of protection to their young.

Additionally, the snakes that eat toads seem to know they have an additional degree of defense. They will stand and defend their territory. Snakes on a nearby island, lacking bufadienologenous toads, lack these compounds, lay eggs, bearing young, also lacking bufadienolide compounds completely. These snakes tend to flee when challenged.

Its unusual for animals to sequester defensive toxins. Poison Darts Frogs, and Mantella Frogs from Madagascar eat ants possessing an alkaloid the frog sequesters in its skin, that confers defensive abilities. Garter snakes are known to sequester tetrodotoxin from poisonous newts in it's diet, and birds in New Guinea sequester toxins from the insects they eat.

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It depends on the specific species... However - common symptoms would be.. localised swelling around the bite area, pain travelling from the bite towards the heart, shortness of breath, blurred vision, vomiting, paralysis and unconsciousness.

It all depends on what kind of snake it is. Snakes that aren't poisonous will not have poisonous offspring.

No, this was a lie made up by snake lovers such as myself, in the hope when people find them not to kill them.

However a better reason not to kill them, is their control of Vermin such as mice and rats.

Being non venomous and growing to large sizes of 8 feet at times, they are among the best snakes to control mice and rat problems.

Only King Snakes (hence the name) eat rattlesnakes, as well as all other snakes, in North America.

Just off memory, all but Maine, and Alaska. I think all the others have at least a Timber rattler or Eastern Massasauga. Rattlesnakes were extirpated from Rhode Island in the 1970's.

There is no special name for a group of rattlesnakes. They normally do not run in herds and are solitary animals except when hibernating. However, they belong to the subfamily of Crotalinae.

An air soft gun can possibly kill a rattle snake but it depends on the gun and where you hit it

Rattlesnake are Carnivores. They consume Mice, Rats, Small Birds and other small rodents that inhabit the habitats they live in. They play an important ecological role by limiting the size of rodent populations in their ecosystems. Rattlesnakes lay motionless for their prey and kill it quickly with a venomous bite. Even if the prey is lucky enough to run off, it will die soon and the Rattlesnake will follow the scent and then swallow it. They are on top of their food chain, but they have some animals like the King Snake on top of it.

Rattlesnakes - like all snakes - are consumers.

Secondary consumers. They eat primary consumers (mice), and the primary consumers eat plants.

No, cats are not immune to snake venom.

Rattle snake bites are considered to be dangerous if not treated on time. Most of the venomous snake bites reported are from rattle snakes.

Very slim. To date, there has only been 6 survivors using a specialized protocol called the Milwaukee protocol. This involves putting the patient in a drug-induced coma, and essentially treating the symptoms, hoping for the patients immune system to mount a response.

The Timber Rattlesnake can reach lengths of up to five feet, but the Black Ratsnake which is much more common have been known to exceed eight feet in length and are the largest native serpent in West Virginia.

There is no such thing as the Texas Rattlesnake. However, their are a number of rattlesnake species that live in the Chihuahuan Desert:

Western Diamondback

Prairie

Mojave

Blacktail

Mottled Rock

Banded Rock

Massasauga

Yes. There are rattlesnakes in most areas of Utah, but it is quite rare to find them near places where people often are.