Snakes
Timber Rattlesnake
Crotalus
horridus
Description
35-74 1/2" (88.9-189.2 cm). Northern
forms range from yellow through brown or gray to black, with dark
back and side blotches on front of body and blotches fused to form
crossbands on rear of body. Head unmarked. Southern forms
yellowish-, brownish- or pinkish-gray, with tan or reddish-brown
back stripe dividing chevronlike crossbands; dark stripe behind eye.
Both forms have black tail. Scales keeled, in 23-25
rows.
Warning
Rattlesnakes, Copperheads, and
Cottonmouths belong to the pit viper family (Viperidae). These
dangerous snakes have a heat-sensitive sensory organ on each side of
the head that enables them to locate warm-blooded prey and strike
accurately, even in the dark. The curved, hollow fangs are normally
folded back along the jaw. When a pit viper strikes, the fangs
rapidly swing forward and fill with venom as the mouth opens. The
venom is a complex mixture of proteins that acts primarily on a
victim's blood tissue. If you hear a rattlesnake shaking its rattle,
back away. The snake is issuing a warning, and if the warning is
ignored it may bite. Pit vipers are never safe to handle. Even dead
ones can retain some neurological reflexes, and "road kills" have
been known to bite.
How to avoid and treat snakebites
Breeding
Mates in autumn and shortly after
emergence from hibernation. Female gives birth every other year to
5-17 young, 10-13" (25-33 cm) long, late August to early October.
Females mature in 4-5 years.
Habitat
Remote wooded hillsides with rock
outcrops in the North; unsettled swampy areas, canebrake thickets,
and floodplains in the South; sea level to 6,600' (2,000
m).
Range
Extreme sw. Maine south to n. Florida, west
into se. Minnesota and c. Texas.
Discussion
Active April to October; in the
daytime in spring and fall, at night during the summer. In northern
areas, Timber Rattlesnakes congregate in large numbers about rocky
den sites and may overwinter with rat snakes and Copperheads. Often
encountered coiled up waiting for prey - squirrels, mice, chipmunks,
small birds; when approached, remains motionless. Record longevity
exceeds 30 years. Until recently, southern populations were
recognized as
C. h. atricaudatus, the Canebrake
Rattlesnake.
Snakes