Current:Home > MarketsWebcam monitors hundreds of rattlesnakes at a Colorado ‘mega den’ for citizen science -WealthRoots Academy
Webcam monitors hundreds of rattlesnakes at a Colorado ‘mega den’ for citizen science
View
Date:2025-04-13 08:30:16
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — They creep, slither and slide over and around each other by the dozen and now there’s a webcam so that anybody can watch them online at any time, even at night.
A “mega den” with as many as 2,000 rattlesnakes isn’t top binge-watching for many people. But it’s a viewing bonanza for scientists and other snake enthusiasts whose observations are helping to broaden understanding of these unusual — and undeservedly maligned — reptiles.
The remote site on private land in northern Colorado is on a hillside full of rock crevices where the snakes can keep warm and hide from predators.
“This is a big, big den for rattlesnakes. This is one of the biggest ones we know of,” Emily Taylor, a California Polytechnic State University biology professor leading the Project RattleCam research, said Tuesday.
The Cal Poly researchers set up the webcam in May, working off their knowledge from a previous webcam they set up at a rattlesnake den in California. The exact location in Colorado is kept secret to discourage snake lovers — or haters — away, Taylor said.
The high-elevation Colorado rattlesnakes take refuge in the den for winter and emerge in the spring for a short season of activity compared to rattlesnakes in the Southwest. This time of year, only pregnant female snakes are at the den while males and not-pregnant females move into the lower country nearby.
In August, the babies will be born. They’re called pups and, unlike nearly all other reptiles, they do not hatch from eggs but are born alive.
Also unlike other snakes, rattlesnake mothers care for their young, protecting them against predators and shielding them with their bodies. Sometimes rattlesnakes even care for the young of others.
“Rattlesnakes are actually really good mothers. People don’t know that,” Taylor said.
A webcam helps scientists observe snake behavior without interfering. Meanwhile, people watching online tip off scientists to events they miss, or clue them in with their own knowledge about the local environment.
“It truly is a group effort, a community science effort, that we couldn’t do on our own as scientists,” Taylor said.
Now and then, there’s drama.
Red-tailed hawks circle above, awaiting a chance to swoop in for a meal. Once a magpie — a relative of crows with black, white and blue coloring and a long tail — caught a baby rattlesnake.
When it rains, the rattlesnakes coil up and catch water to drink from the cups formed by their bodies.
Taylor expects a surge in activity after the pups are born — then even more in September as snakes return from surrounding areas in preparation for winter.
Rattlesnakes get a bum rap as creepy and threatening. But the webcam shows they’re social animals that don’t go out of their way to be aggressive, Taylor pointed out.
“I try to speak up for the underdog and to show people that rattlesnakes have this other side that’s really worthy of our admiration,” said Taylor.
___
LaFleur reported from Dallas.
veryGood! (11642)
Related
- Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
- Hearts, brains and bones: Stolen body parts scandal stretches from Harvard to Kentucky
- Incandescent light bulbs are now banned in the United States—here's what to buy instead
- Appeals court allows Biden asylum restrictions to stay in place
- Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
- Biden’s inaction on death penalty may be a top campaign issue as Trump and DeSantis laud executions
- MLB's top prospect Jackson Holliday is putting on a show – and is hyped for Orioles' future
- Game maker mashes up Monopoly and Scrabble for 'addicting' new challenge: What to know
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Tennessee Titans release OL Jamarco Jones after multiple fights almost sparked brawl
Ranking
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- 2 injured, 4 unaccounted for after house explosion
- AP Week in Pictures: North America
- Texas man who threatened poll workers and Arizona officials is sentenced to 3 1/2 years
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Mother of Uvalde victim on running for mayor: Change 'starts on the ground'
- Police shoot and kill a man in Boise, Idaho who they say called for help, then charged at officers
- Why Tia Mowry Is Terrified to Date After Cory Hardrict Divorce
Recommendation
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
Queens train derailment: 13 injured as train carrying about 100 passengers derails in NYC
Looking for the perfect vacation book? Try 'Same Time Next Summer' and other charming reads
1000-Lb. Sisters' Tammy Slaton Fires Back at Bull Crap Criticism Over Her Use of Photo Filters
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
A month’s worth of rain floods Vermont town, with more on the way
U.S. orders departure of non-emergency government personnel from Niger
Man who broke into women's homes and rubbed their feet while they slept arrested