Crotalus viridis oreganus

Northern Pacific rattlers are to be treated with the utmost caution and should never be handled if encountered in the wild. If encountered in the wild, simply step back, give the animal room, and it will move away. They only occur east of the Cascade Mountains. Possessing hinged fangs rather than fixed like cobras, they are considered to be perhaps the most advanced of all snakes. With the addition of a loud buzzing rattle when disturbed, the rattlesnake is an intimidating and formidable predator. They are not exempt from harm though, and sometimes fall prey to other predators higher on the food chain than themselves, like Red-tailed hawks.

This snake belongs to a subfamily of snakes called pit vipers. They have small facial depressions between the eye and the nostril, one on either side of the head. These "pits" are highly sensitive infrared heat detectors that aid the snake in locating prey by zeroing in on the body temperature of potential victims, like ground squirrels, chipmunks and other small to medium sized mammals. Rattlesnakes do not usually actively forage for food. Instead, they are classic ambush predators: they simply sit and wait patiently for the meal to unknowingly come to them, and then strike with lightning speed. With help from their good sense of smell, they often position themselves right on the edge of a well used rodent trail and wait for movement.

Unfortunately, high numbers of rattlesnakes are senselessly captured and killed every year in so called "rattlesnake roundups" throughout much of North America. By removing an integral member of the ecosystem, much more harm than good is done. Among their many benefits to man, certain properties in rattlesnake venom are used in medical research to fight human disease. Being chiefly small mammal hunters, they also help curb the explosive reproductive rate of rodents, which can be destructive to human crops. Although caution should be taken when hiking in rattlesnake country, these amazing snakes deserve our respect and protection.

Cool Fact:

Counting the segments of a rattlesnake’s rattle will not reveal the age of the snake, only the times it has shed its skin. The end of the rattle can also break off as it becomes very long.