Rattlesnake - Western Diamondback - 1 Lb.

Rattlesnake - Western Diamondback - 1 Lb. This package includes one pound of skinless gutted bone-in rattlesnake.

Rattlesnakes have a great display of camouflage. Most snakes are normally timid and secretive. When approached, they usually remain quiet to avoid detection. They may try to escape if given an opportunity. When frightened, cornered, or attacked, snakes will stand their ground and may attempt to strike at or even bite their intruder.

Rattlesnakes are cold-blooded or ectothermic animals. Their body temperature is influenced more by the temperature at the grounds surface where they are lying, rather than the air temperature. High or low temperatures cause the snakes to seek escape cover or shady areas. Most snakes cannot survive exposure to direct sunlight with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but rattlesnakes have a greater endurance to lower or freezing temperatures. Lethal temperatures for the snakes depend on the time of exposure. Unlike warm-blooded or endothermic animals, snakes are unable to produce their own body heat. To maintain a desirable temperature, snakes must rely on the temperature or warmth of their surroundings. The snake's circulatory/nervous systems aid in controlling the warming or cooling of their body.

With the harsh winter conditions in the northern states, rattlesnakes need to find an underground refuge for the winter months. Early fall frosts and shortening daylight, encourage snakes to move toward the dens, normally found on hillsides, bluffs, and rocky outcrops with underground openings used as denning sites. Snakes will also den up in holes or burrow systems of prairie dogs or other animals. Any such underground hole, crevice, mammal burrow, or other retreat area must be deep and extend to a depth below the frost line. The dens are normally found on hillsides with a southerly sun exposure allowing for spring and fall basking in the sun. Preferred dens are found on higher elevations above creeks and drainages that may be prone to spring flooding. Snakes cannot dig their own holes, although they can push or root out material with their noses. Vacant holes left behind by other animals are often used as escape cover or denning over the winter months. Snakes start their movements toward the den during the first freezing temperatures in the fall months, and will congregate near the den until the lower temperatures drive them underground. In late March or April, triggered by increasing ground temperatures, the snakes will move toward the ground surface or the den opening. With the warming nighttime temperatures and the prolonged period of sunlight, snakes leave the den to find food, mate, and have young during their summer travels. Throughout the summer months, the dens are abandoned and the snakes will travel 2-4 miles from their den. In a Wyoming study, radio transmitters were implanted in various snakes and one female rattlesnake traveled 8 miles from its den. Snakes return to the same den year after year, provided the den is not disturbed or destroyed. These dens or hibernacula have been used by many generations of snakes over the years. Some people feel that snakes leave scent trails or pheromones to identify past travels. Other snakes, such as juveniles, may use their sense of smell to follow the odor or pheromones trails of adult snakes, to locate their dens.

All snakes are predators and must locate their prey before they seize it. A snake's vision can detect movement out to about 40 feet; closer objects are seen more sharply. Rattlesnake eyes are lidless, but are protected by a hard-transparent covering or scale. The pupil or the black portion of a rattlesnake's eye is elliptical, not round as with the nonvenomous snakes such as the racer. The vision of many snakes is better suited for nighttime searching rather than daytime activity. The eyes initiate the visual prey response, then the senses of smell or thermosensitive come into play.