More rattler than meets the eye
Category: Nature...
Posted Friday, August 22, 2008 at 06:55 AM [GMT-6]

Note: This post contains some photos that might be disturbing to some. Seriously. If you get queasy at the sight of dead animals, or if you have Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), you'll probably want to skip this one. Seriously.

I was copied yesterday on an email making the rounds that contains a couple of fascinating (or gruesome, depending on your perspective) photos. I tracked down the originator of the email to get permission to post those photos, which he granted, provided I attribute them to "Bob Wire" (an inside West Texas joke, and to be fully appreciated it must be pronounced bob wahr). He said he got the photos from a veterinarian who didn't remember precisely where or when they were taken.

The photos show a large and very dead rattlesnake laying on top of a stainless steel table, which leads me to believe the setting is a vet clinic. The cause of death is not obvious, although some manipulation of shading in Photoshop reveals what looks like some head and neck trauma. What distinguishes the photos from your run-of-the-mill dead snake pictures is that the rattler's abdomen has been slit lengthwise, revealing eighteen babies. In one photo, the snakes are still in their embryonic sacs; in the second, the sacs have been opened and the babies laid out on the table.

Here are the photos. Click on each thumbnail to view the full-sized version.

As these photos obviously show, rattlesnakes reproduce via live birth. The babies are venomous from the get-go, and many believe that they're more dangerous than adults because, unlike the mature snakes, they can't control the release of venom when they strike (rattlers can release venom via one or both fangs, or neither – some refer to the latter case referred to as a "dry strike"; I call it a "Lucky Strike"). However, the babies also have less venom to dispense, so the relative degree of danger is inconclusive, in my opinion anyway.

I find it fascinating* how much the embryonic snakes resemble the adults, in both marking and shape. Some of the babies even appear to have rattles, although I think that's just the shape of the tail where the rattles will eventually appear.

The email to which these photos were attached contained a warning to be alert in the upcoming dove hunting season. Rattlesnakes are a danger to hunters and their dogs, and pregnant rattlers are deemed to be especially hostile. Some may be offended by photos such as these, but unless you live in snake country and have had friends, family, neighbors, dogs, horses, or other pets impacted by these reptiles, those of us who do and have aren't particularly open to the idea that these are creatures to be coddled.

*What can I say? I was a zoology major at A&M for five semesters, until organic chemistry made an accountant out of me. I'm still interested in the endless surprises to be found in the world of nature.