What to Know About Rattlesnakes

According to neighborhood scuttlebutt, the family three houses up and across the street from me killed a rattlesnake in their yard this summer. With a shovel, as I recall the gossip. As an avid indoorsman, that’s as close as I’ve ever been to a rattler outside a terrarium or political gathering (though a drunken cowboy at a rodeo did once pull a tiny wriggling snake from his shirt pocket, swore it was a baby rattlesnake, and kissed it). 

There are several species of pit viper that make their home here, including the Diamondback and the sidewinder. Notwithstanding my neighbor's experience, they tend not to interact with people.

Despite Western movies in which someone frantically sucks the poisonfrom a rattlesnake bite in order to save the victim, the mortality rate among bitees isn’t high. From the CDC: “Each year, an estimated 7,000–8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States, and about 5 of those people die.” That survival rate doesn’t mean a bite isn’t dangerous. The CDC again: “For those bitten by rattlesnakes, 10–44 percent will have lasting injuries.”

Luckily, you needn’t worry too much right about now: “During the colder winter season, rattlesnakes will go underground, coil together, and remain dormant.” If you do see one, the Red Rock Canyon website advises, “keep yourself at least 10 feet away.” Oh, that should be no problem. After the first rattle, I’ll probably land twice that far away.

Western Diamondback
Sciencey name:Crotalus atrox
Collective noun: A group of rattlesnakes is called — seriously — a “rhumba.”
Diet: Small rodents, lizards, eggs
The rattles:Made of keratin, the same substance as our fingernails.
The fangs: They’re hinged, folded flat against the snake’s jaw until it strikes.
Enigmatic quote: “A rattlesnake that doesn’t bite teaches you nothing.” — Jessamyn West