SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – Groundbreaking scenes of births and first movements of baby rattlesnakes have been captured on livestream cameras and made available to the public.
Project RattleCam, a Cal Poly-led and developed observation program publicly announced in July of 2024, have captured rare footage of live births, cuddling, and even multi-year lifecycles of individual rattlesnakes.
"There is literally a handful of people in the world that have seen rattlesnake pups being born from their mother," beamed Dr. Scott Boback, a Dickinson biology professor and co-director of the project. "After spending the whole summer getting to know the individual snakes, viewers, including me, were overwhelmed with joy to be able to see the delivery. It’s a tremendous gift to be able to watch timber rattlesnake pups during their first few days of life."
Since its inception, the project has grown to include livestreams in California, Colorado, and the newest location for Timber rattlesnakes in Pennsylvania which went live in May of this year.
According to Cal Poly, the newest livestream captured the birth and activities of baby Timber rattlesnakes in Pennsylvania for the first time ever.
A Timber rattlesnake and her pups seen cuddling earlier this year and captured for the first time by the Project RattleCam's latest addition in Pennsylvania."After witnessing the first days of life of two other rattlesnake species on our cams, I can say that seeing brand new Timber Rattlesnake babies basking in the sun and exploring their new world is a huge privilege and endlessly fascinating," Cal Poly biological sciences professor and co-director of Project RattleCam Dr. Emily Taylor shared.
While the Pennsylvania camera is breaking new ground, the Colorado camera captures a unique location that attracts hundreds of rattlesnakes.
"This livestream allows us to collect data on wild rattlesnakes without disturbing them, facilitating unbiased scientific discovery," explained Dr. Taylor in 2024 when the program was publicly announced. "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."
The Colorado solar-powered camera system is funded mostly by donations and was designed and installed by faculty and technicians from Cal Poly's Bailey College of Science and Mathematics.
Rattlesnake pups are usually born in late summer and stay at their dens with their mothers until male snakes return from summer hunting grounds ahead of their hibernation explained Dr. Taylor.
The cameras are turned off during that hibernation period through the winter and the livestreams return the following spring detailed Dr. Taylor.
A key part of Project RattleCam is that it allows people from around the world to observe and learn about rattlesnakes without disturbing them and for longer periods of time.
"One of the reasons it was cool is that behavior is a field that can only really be studied through long periods of observation," explained Zoe Askim, a student at Dickinson College participating in the program. "You can read about or watch videos of specific behaviors, but unless you've watched the animal for a long time day after day, you miss any nuances and have trouble differentiating the normal from the slightly unusual. Project RattleCam provided that opportunity to get to know the snakes and their daily routines and see amazing rare behaviors, like male combat and courtship."
Project RattleCam isn't just changing how researchers can observe rattlers in their native habitats, it can change how the public views the species.
Professor Taylor has found in her research that people's feelings towards rattlesnakes can change notably when they are shown baby snakes cuddling with their mothers or other adult rattlesnakes.
The local academic has led a public campaign to shift public perceptions and protect the snakes from general harm by humans who often see the snakes as violent neighbors.
"Cuddling is a common rattlesnake behavior, which provides baby snakes protection," explained Anthony DiMeglio, a Cal Poly biological sciences graduate student studying the cuddling behavior in baby rattlesnakes. "King snakes are a predator of rattlesnakes, but in general they wouldn't eat an adult because that’s too big. King snakes do target babies though."
While rattlesnakes are infamous for their bone-chilling rattles and venomous bite, they generally only strike as a defensive measure after alerting you to their presence and actively try to avoid interactions with humans shared Cal Poly researchers.
An adult California Western rattlesnake cuddles with pups. Image courtesy of Project RattleCam."By showing rattlesnakes watching over their babies, Project RattleCam is shifting people perception about rattlesnakes, making them realize that they are not threatening animals and that they deserve to be loved too," noted Océane Da Cunha, a Cal Poly Frost Postdoctoral Research Fellow working with Dr. Taylor.
For more information on the project, or to slither in to watch, click here!
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