Rattle Snakes

3 Pages 734 Words

Throughout the world there are many snakes whose venomous bite can be fatal to humans. However, in the United States there are only four -- the Coral Snake, the Copperhead, the Cottonmouth Water Moccasin and the Rattlesnake. The rattlesnake (genus Crotalus) is the only venomous snake native to California, but other venomous snakes make their home in the deserts of the American Southwest.
Rattlesnakes come in 16 distinct varieties. There are numerous subspecies and color variations, but they are all identified by the jointed rattles on the tail. While most of the rattlers are concentrated in the southwestern United States, they extend north, east and south in diminishing numbers and varieties, so that every contiguous state has one or more varieties.
The Pacific Rattlesnake is found throughout a variety of places in the California, from sea level on the Pacific Ocean, the inland prairies and desert areas, to the mountains at elevations of more than 10,000 feet.
From Lake Tahoe north, on the east side of the Sierra, you might see the Great Basin rattler; from Tahoe south through Death Valley, the Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes) and Panamint rattlers; along the Colorado River, the Western Diamondback (Crotalus atrox); in the southwestern area, the Red Diamondback (Crotalus ruber) and Speckled (Crotalus mitchelli) rattlers; and in the Mojave Desert, both the Mojave Rattlesnake and the Sidewinder.
Some kinds of snakes lay eggs. In others, including rattlesnakes, eggs are retained in the mother's body until hatched, and the young are born alive. Sometimes the female rattler is killed with the young still in her body, a phenomenon giving rise to the folk tale that she swallows her babies to protect them from danger. The female Pacific rattler may contain from 4 to 25 eggs, from which an average of 9 or 10 hearty young are born live.
Except in the extreme northern part of California, mating occurs in the spring. The young are born betw...