Watch stunning rattlesnake "mega-den" with Project RattleCam researchers

Members of the public can tune in to watch the secret lives of rattlesnakes thanks to a camera system installed at a "mega-den" in Colorado and set to livestream the footage on YouTube.

Members of the public can tune in to watch the secret lives of rattlesnakes thanks to a camera system installed at a "mega-den" in Colorado and set to livestream the footage on YouTube.

The livestream is part of a community science initiative called Project Rattle Cam, in which the public can help researchers study the snakes. The camera system was designed and installed by faculty and researchers at California Polytechnic State University's Bailey College of Science and Mathematics.

The so-called mega-den is a "rare habitat" at an undisclosed location on private land in Colorado. It attracts hundreds, or "likely thousands" of prairie rattlesnakes thanks to its rocky structure, which provides the elusive snakes with plenty of hiding places, Cal Poly said in a news release Monday. The solar-powered camera system was funded "largely by donations."

"The public can tune in anytime to RattleCam.org to watch dozens of pregnant rattlesnakes basking, interacting and, later this summer, caring for their pups," Cal Poly said. The site hosts two YouTube livestreams — the Colorado Cam and a California Cam, which observes wild western rattlesnakes.

"Viewers can watch closely to witness rare events such as predators visiting the den attempting to attack the rattlesnakes and the mass emergence of thirsty snakes to drink raindrops collected on their coiled bodies," Cal Poly researchers said. "The best times to watch are in the morning and early evening."

“This livestream allows us to collect data on wild rattlesnakes without disturbing them, facilitating unbiased scientific discovery,” said Emily Taylor, project lead and a Cal Poly biological sciences professor. “But even more important is that members of the public can watch wild rattlesnakes behaving as they naturally do, helping to combat the biased imagery we see on television shows of rattling, defensive and stressed snakes interacting with people who are provoking them.”

Allowing members of the public to help watch the rattlesnakes has led to reports of "novel interactions" including nighttime visits by rodents while the snakes are asleep, Taylor said. Viewers report their observations in the YouTube live chat, and have even helped scientists identify individual snakes by their scale patterns, which are unique, like fingerprints.

Although rattlesnakes are common throughout the U.S., they are notoriously difficult to study in their natural habitats, according to researchers.

“We hope to eventually install cameras on snake aggregations (group gathering) all over the world to help us better understand the behaviors of these complex, social animals,” Taylor said.

Cal Poly student researchers, meanwhile, are utilizing the livestream for their studies.

Biological sciences master's degree student Max Roberts is using livestream data alongside data collected from a cellular weather station at the mega-den site to learn how the snakes' behaviors help them maintain their body temperature, avoid sunburn, and conserve water.

A group of Cal Poly Liberal Studies undergraduate students training to become teachers is using the livestream to develop a curriculum called "RattleEd," designed to engage elementary school students.

“Third- through fifth-graders will investigate their own scientific questions while watching the snakes with supplemental art, science, and engineering activities to support their learning,” said team member Owen Bachhuber, a Cal Poly biological sciences graduate student. “The team will measure how children’s perceptions of snakes change after participating in the RattleCam unit.”

Taylor says rattlesnake pups are expected to be born beginning in August, and will remain in the den with their mothers until the males return from summer hunting to hibernate. The cameras will be turned off for the winter, and the feed will resume in the spring.

Reporting by TMX

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