Big Boss of snakes? Scientists live stream thousands of rattlesnakes living in 'mega-den' in Colorado

Colorado, United States

The scientists have started an intimate livestream which is giving live coverage of thousands of rattlesnakes living in the 'mega-den' in Colorado, United States. 

The webcam has been installed in a way that if not hundreds then thousands of prairie rattlesnakes, which are hidden between the rocks in northern Colorado, are captured in the live stream.

For the people who are interested in understanding the lives of snakes, the live stream is available on YouTube.

The Colorado live stream is being carried out under the initiative called Project RattleCam in which the scientists aim to collect real-time data on the venomous reptile. 

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The remote site is located on private land in northern Colorado which is full of rock crevices where the snakes can remain warm and hide from the predators. 

“This is a big, big den for rattlesnakes. This is one of the biggest ones we know of,” said Emily Taylor, a California Polytechnic State University biology professor leading the Project RattleCam research, on Tuesday (July 16).

Pregnant female snakes set to give birth in den

In the winter, the high-elevation Colorado rattlesnakes live in the den and come out in the spring to carry out activities. 

At this time, there are only pregnant female snakes in the den and the males have slithered towards the lower part of the country. 

The babies are set to be born in August. Scientists have emphasised that rattlesnake mothers are very caring for their young ones and protect them against predators. 

“Rattlesnakes are actually really good mothers. People don’t know that,” said Taylor.

With the help of a webcam, the scientists will be able to observe the behaviour of the snake without any interference.

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Meanwhile, people who are watching the livestream have been informing the scientists if they are missing anything significant. 

“It truly is a group effort, a community science effort, that we couldn’t do on our own as scientists,” said Taylor.

"This livestream allows us to collect data on wild rattlesnakes without disturbing them, facilitating unbiased scientific discovery," said Emily Taylor, who is a biological sciences professor at Cal Poly who leads Project RattleCam, in a statement.

"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," she added.

(With inputs from agencies)