Martin Nowak
Martin's Snakes
On May 16, 2024 – bcr229 posted on FC the renewal of rattlesnake cam projects in Colorado and California. Thanks, on behalf of FC Herps in the News readers !
As of September 4, 2024, some 308 views have been logged. The live cams are really quite interesting and educational to those wishing to expand knowledge of rattlesnake den behavior in the west and far west. I have watched a number of times for several minutes. As bcr229 indicates, occasionally a garter snake wanders through. I have been fortunate to have seen such dens in Colorado. I have also seen the classic balls of garter snakes in Canada. And I’ve seen many small spring-time aggregations of snakes in rock piles in Colorado and Texas. Some of these had as many as (est.) 100 individuals of more than one species.
To the point of this post. On July 16, 2024, the AP News did an update on this project, which is led by Emily Taylor, PhD as CalPoly. https://bio.calpoly.edu/content/Taylor
apnews.com
The AP News update includes a brief one-minute interview with Dr. Taylor.
apnews.com
I took some exception to certain of Dr. Taylor’s comments and semantics in the video and sent her a polite and brief email . Specifically, I asked:
“Dr. Taylor:
In the AP news story, you made a couple comments:
“raise their young together” @ 0:43
“actually care for these babies” @ 0:50
“really good mothers like that” @ 0:53
Precisely how do they raise their young; care for the babies, and behave as good mothers?”
Dr. Taylor has not replied, and I suspect will not reply.
If one Googles < rattlesnake maternal care > a fair number of results pop up. Some are academic, but most are common lay literature using human terminology applied to the rattlesnakes. In part the issue of what constitutes “maternal care” is in the definition of “maternal care”. Here is a nice YouTube example:
For readers who may wish ask Dr. Taylor about “rattlesnake maternal care” - Dr. Emily Taylor’s email address is: [email protected]
Should you email her – response or not – let the FC community know by posting your communication experience in this thread.
The live cam: https://rattlecam.org/
My personal take on the matter is that little (if any) overt maternal care exists in rattlesnakes. At the present time, many of the neonates at the Colorado site are in shed as evidenced by opaque eyes and bluish button. It is clear that both the neonates and the adult females are all in various stages of shed and shed skins are seen in many of the cam views. Once they absorb remaining yolk and shed, the young crawl off to find food and begin their tenuous existence away from the birthing den. Here in Alabama, I have seen one or more female timber (canebrake) rattlesnakes in late summer under the same tin or large board. If left undisturbed, they will remain there and give birth. As in the western dens, the mother(s) and young stay under the same tin for a week or two and shed. After shedding each successive day there are fewer young snakes and ultimately the females also leave.
In the Colorado web cam, presently one can observe flying and stinging insects landing on the snakes. When such lands on an adult female she will flex that spot knocking away the insect. When such an insect lands on a neonate the mother does not react, and the neonate is on its own. Some of the literature narratives indicate the mother rattlesnake supplies body heat to the babies. Such appears accurate in the cam. It is reasonable to ask if that is indeed maternal care - or - if the sun on the rocks supplying heat to both the moms and the neonates constitutes maternal care. Is mother’s heat simply happenstance for some young, before the young shed and then crawl away? In many of the cam’s views the adult females are together and not in the rocks. Why are these not “attending to” the young? In other views the moms are surrounded by neonates in the rocks with the sun shining on both age groups and the rocks. Some narratives comment that small rodents have been known to nip at rattlesnakes and that in such instances the mother protects the young by reacting and at times striking at the rodent. One might ask if the adult rattlesnake would behave the same when young are not present. I think the adult female rattlesnakes (and males for that matter) would react the same to a nipping rodent independent of the presence of neonates. Many other similar behaviors could be discussed.
Do rattlesnake breeders observe maternal care? Domestic mammals do not lose innate behavior of “true and overt” maternal care. Do Crotalus viridis (or other species) exhibit maternal care (whatever the definition) when not in a den environment, as across most of their range in prairies?
Readers: so, what constitutes “true” maternal care in rattlesnakes - versus what is typical behavior whether babies are present or not ? Can one conclude that rattlesnake maternal care exists?
Project Rattlecam Is Back!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0DtG8SMyoo You are watching a livestream of a Prairie Rattlesnake rookery at an undisclosed location in northern Colorado. At this rookery, hundreds of snakes overwinter, shed their skins, and bask in the sun. Dozens of pregnant snakes spend the summer here...
www.faunaclassifieds.com
As of September 4, 2024, some 308 views have been logged. The live cams are really quite interesting and educational to those wishing to expand knowledge of rattlesnake den behavior in the west and far west. I have watched a number of times for several minutes. As bcr229 indicates, occasionally a garter snake wanders through. I have been fortunate to have seen such dens in Colorado. I have also seen the classic balls of garter snakes in Canada. And I’ve seen many small spring-time aggregations of snakes in rock piles in Colorado and Texas. Some of these had as many as (est.) 100 individuals of more than one species.
To the point of this post. On July 16, 2024, the AP News did an update on this project, which is led by Emily Taylor, PhD as CalPoly. https://bio.calpoly.edu/content/Taylor
Newborn rattlesnakes at a Colorado 'mega den' are making their live debut
A “mega den” of hundreds of rattlesnakes in Colorado is getting even bigger now that late summer is here and babies are being born.
apnews.com
The AP News update includes a brief one-minute interview with Dr. Taylor.
Webcam monitors hundreds of rattlesnakes at a Colorado 'mega den' for citizen science
A “mega den” of rattlesnakes at a remote location in northern Colorado is now available for live, round-the-clock viewing online.
apnews.com
I took some exception to certain of Dr. Taylor’s comments and semantics in the video and sent her a polite and brief email . Specifically, I asked:
“Dr. Taylor:
In the AP news story, you made a couple comments:
“raise their young together” @ 0:43
“actually care for these babies” @ 0:50
“really good mothers like that” @ 0:53
Precisely how do they raise their young; care for the babies, and behave as good mothers?”
Dr. Taylor has not replied, and I suspect will not reply.
If one Googles < rattlesnake maternal care > a fair number of results pop up. Some are academic, but most are common lay literature using human terminology applied to the rattlesnakes. In part the issue of what constitutes “maternal care” is in the definition of “maternal care”. Here is a nice YouTube example:
For readers who may wish ask Dr. Taylor about “rattlesnake maternal care” - Dr. Emily Taylor’s email address is: [email protected]
Should you email her – response or not – let the FC community know by posting your communication experience in this thread.
The live cam: https://rattlecam.org/
My personal take on the matter is that little (if any) overt maternal care exists in rattlesnakes. At the present time, many of the neonates at the Colorado site are in shed as evidenced by opaque eyes and bluish button. It is clear that both the neonates and the adult females are all in various stages of shed and shed skins are seen in many of the cam views. Once they absorb remaining yolk and shed, the young crawl off to find food and begin their tenuous existence away from the birthing den. Here in Alabama, I have seen one or more female timber (canebrake) rattlesnakes in late summer under the same tin or large board. If left undisturbed, they will remain there and give birth. As in the western dens, the mother(s) and young stay under the same tin for a week or two and shed. After shedding each successive day there are fewer young snakes and ultimately the females also leave.
In the Colorado web cam, presently one can observe flying and stinging insects landing on the snakes. When such lands on an adult female she will flex that spot knocking away the insect. When such an insect lands on a neonate the mother does not react, and the neonate is on its own. Some of the literature narratives indicate the mother rattlesnake supplies body heat to the babies. Such appears accurate in the cam. It is reasonable to ask if that is indeed maternal care - or - if the sun on the rocks supplying heat to both the moms and the neonates constitutes maternal care. Is mother’s heat simply happenstance for some young, before the young shed and then crawl away? In many of the cam’s views the adult females are together and not in the rocks. Why are these not “attending to” the young? In other views the moms are surrounded by neonates in the rocks with the sun shining on both age groups and the rocks. Some narratives comment that small rodents have been known to nip at rattlesnakes and that in such instances the mother protects the young by reacting and at times striking at the rodent. One might ask if the adult rattlesnake would behave the same when young are not present. I think the adult female rattlesnakes (and males for that matter) would react the same to a nipping rodent independent of the presence of neonates. Many other similar behaviors could be discussed.
Do rattlesnake breeders observe maternal care? Domestic mammals do not lose innate behavior of “true and overt” maternal care. Do Crotalus viridis (or other species) exhibit maternal care (whatever the definition) when not in a den environment, as across most of their range in prairies?
Readers: so, what constitutes “true” maternal care in rattlesnakes - versus what is typical behavior whether babies are present or not ? Can one conclude that rattlesnake maternal care exists?