Posted on 04/21/2026 4:50:23 PM PDT by fidelis
COLORADO, USA — A "mega den" of rattlesnakes in Colorado is becoming active after the winter.
Thanks to a livestream that launched Monday, scientists studying the den on a craggy hillside in Colorado are learning more about these enigmatic — and often misunderstood — reptiles.
The public can also watch on the Project RattleCam website. The project is a collaboration between California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, snake removal company Central Coast Snake Services and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
As the camera launched Monday, snake researchers said it is still a bit cold at the den, so you can expect to see a few rattlesnakes active in midday and the afternoon.
"As the days heat up, the number of snakes out will increase, and we have a long and busy May to look forward to before the non-pregnant snakes depart for their feeding grounds," researchers said.
This is the second time the public and scientists can watch the snakes become active for the spring. The livestream first launched in the summer of 2024.
As many as 2,000 snakes spend the winter at the rookery on private land at an undisclosed location in Colorado. Dozens of pregnant snakes spend the summer there as they prepare to give birth and care for the babies.
There are 36 species of rattlesnakes, most of which inhabit the United States. They range across nearly all states and are especially common in the Southwest. These being studied are prairie rattlesnakes, which can be found in much of the central and western U.S. and into Canada and Mexico.
Prairie rattlesnakes are most active between April and September. In the springtime and fall, they're active during the day, while they become more nocturnal during hot summer months.
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Flamethrowers are still legal
We need to get 4Chan on this and dox that location. Horrible infestation
How did you know what I was thinking?!? The only good rattlesnake is a dead rattlesnake. I dispatched a number while I owned rural property in the Sierra Foothills. Always amazing when you’d cut their head off and the head would still try to strike
BTTY
Probably under the bushes in the landscaping outside the State Capitol in Denver.
Lots of them in Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs. Stay on the hiking trails!
They are not misunderstood. They are completely understood...kill on sight!
https://iment.com/maida/family/father/jackbell/Jack-Bell-Prospector-and-Naturalist-39.htm#lurking
The Lurking Death, Nevada State Journal, May 20, 1923
“Sidewinder” Feared and Dreaded by Prospectors of Great Western Desert
An Arizona TV station reporting on Colorado snakes with a California snake removal company and two colleges, one in California and one in Pennsylvania.
Wow, that is one big multi-state, multi-snake project.
Flame thrower.
Aww, come on. They ain't hurting nobody way out there. Just snakes doing snake stuff. 🙂
They won’t bite lawyers out of professional curtesy.
Depends on where you live.
In my state flamethrowers are only legal if limited to 25 feet range.
Cute guys..... I am a reptilephile. I even had a pet rattlesnake as a kid.
Of course...l Have eaten my fair share of them when they get too close and aggressive. But for the most part they give you a big warning to just ‘shoo’ them away.... Id much rather have a couple snakes on my property than over run with pack rats and possums. Heck, I even had one in my irrigation pond catching the koi someone dumped years ago.
Snake liners unite. They don’t bug me (in fact do me a favor keeping the vermin controlled) and I don’t bug them.
Why am I thinking about a gallon of gas and a match? 🤔
Worked at a rural shooting range in New Mexico, and we decapitated one in a shooting bay. Left it there for about a half hour to finish up a few things. My co-worker wanted the rattles so he went back to collect them. He picked up the body and it wrapped itself around his arm twice. He levitated about a foot.
Got the rattles and threw it in a dumpster. An hour later we saw one of the “range ravens” (huge older ravens of amazing intelligence) eating it in a tree.
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