Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Tom walked down the field on a warm summer evening somewhere in Arizona to visit his granny's house. He came along a rocky patch and while walking, some of the rocks slipped between his feet and suddenly he heard a buzzing sound that rose slowly. His blood froze in horror, sweat trickling down his forehead. He managed to turn around in horror and there it was, a western diamondback rattlesnake. The snake had raised its hood and the rattle on its tail was swinging rapidly. Few of the rocks that had slipped, disturbed the snake. Just as the snake was ready to strike, Tom began to jump sideways to escape its venomous fangs. Luckily, the snake gave up his sticking pose and slithered across the rocks and disappeared. Tom quickly pulled up his socks and ran to safety.

You will find many such similar stories in America, where people have encountered such a situation. Few have lived to tell the tale, and some have lost their lives to the lethal bite of the western diamondback rattlesnake. This article will cover some facts to help you understand this reptile better.

Facts About the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

The largest western rattlesnake is the western diamondback rattlesnake. The greatest number of deaths due to this snake's bite is seen in Mexico. The second greatest number of deaths in America is also due to western diamondback rattlesnake bite. This shows how dangerous this snake can be.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Subfamily:	Crotalinae
Genus:	Crotalus
Species:	Crotalus atrox

Physical Description
The western diamondback rattlesnake is called the largest rattlesnake in North America because of its massive size hat is 3 feet to 7 feet long. These snakes have a triangular-shaped head, keeled scales and heat seeking pits below the nostrils. Thus, they are known as pit vipers and these heat pits help them detect the temperature changes that are as small as a fraction of a degree. They also use these heat pits to detect the body heat of an animal and differentiate their prey from predator. There rattles are added with a new segment during each shedding of the skin. The snake have different coloration like gray, brown, pink, yellow on the top. Their underside can vary from light brown to blackish diamondback shaped blotches that fade towards the tail. The tail is either black and white or light gray in color. The snake has a light stripe running from behind the eye and meeting the corner of the mouth.

The snakes use their rattles as a defensive warning sign. When the rattlesnake rattles it means 'stay away for your own good'. These rattles are interlocked segments that bounce against each other. This causes the rattling sound as they are hollow from the inside. These rattles are made of keratin that is similar to the keratin in finger nails.

Habitat and Range
The habitat is diverse and it is found in habitats that are 7,000 feet above sea level. It consists of rocky hillsides, grassy plains, forest areas, river bottoms and even the coastal prairies. They make home in dry, rocky areas or shrub covered terrains where they can hide themselves in cracks of rocks and holes in ground.

The western diamondback rattlesnake range includes southwestern regions of North America and northeastern Mexico. They are found in central and western Texas, central Arkansas, southeastern California, etc. It is also found in the far regions like northern Sinaloa, Hidalgo, northern and southern Veracruz and southeastern Oaxaca.

Diet
The diet consist of mice, rats, rabbits, gophers, ground squirrels, birds, lizards and other small mammals. The venom proves to be fatal within seconds of injection and the prey is dead before it knows. Sometimes the teeth tend to break off and remain inside the prey. The western diamondback rattlesnake can replace its fangs annually by reserve teeth 2 or 3 times. The snake swallows it prey whole and digest it as it passes through its body. The rattlesnake eats only once 2 to 3 weeks in wild.

Activity
The snakes tend to spend their day coiled up in a shady area of low growing shrubs. They can even laze around in piles of leaves or debris and rocks. They may even make home in burrows of small underground animals. In winter, they search for dark caves or something safe and sound to hibernate. They tend to hibernate in a community den called hibernacula.

The snake coils and rattles vividly and stand its ground when it feels threatened. It is known to bite about 150 people a year and the venom is known to kill more people than any other snake in America.

Reproduction
The snake reaches sexual maturity by the time it is 3 years of age. They mate during spring after coming out of hibernation. The gestation period is about 167 days and the birthing process takes about 3 to 5 hours. They give birth to 10 to 20 young. These snakes are ovoviviparous, that pierce their egg membrane immediately before birth. Thus, they are born live. The babies live with their mother for a couple of hours or a day. And then soon they are off to live on their own.

Venom
The venom is not very toxic. What makes it dangerous is the amount of venom injected after a bite due to the large size of the snake. These pit vipers can control the flow of their venom through their fangs. This helps them release most of its venom in a single bite. Most often the snake does not release its venom and the bite area is very small.

The venom is proteolytic in nature like all American pit vipers. This venom is very advanced and can destroy tissues and other cells by intramolecular digestion. The other effects of the venom include:

• Cytotoxicity - destruction of cells
• Hemotoxic - Red blood cells are destroyed
• Myotoxic - This causes paralysis and muscle destruction
• Hemorrhagic - This leads to persistent bleeding

There are certain neurotoxins present in the venom that causes the wound to swell at a very rapid rate. One may also observe discoloration and pain after the bite.

When a child is bitten do not waste any time and quickly take the child to a medical center. The smaller the size the less time it takes for the venom to act. Any person bitten requires medical attention as the longer time you take to seek medical intervention, less are the chances of survival. You should consider large snakes more dangerous as the amount of venom delivered by then is quite large.

The western diamondback rattlesnake is one of the most common snakes of Texas. Even though their bites can prove to be fatal, do not kill the snake. They are rodent killers and help keep their population in check. The rattlesnake never strikes without provocation and will always give you a signal before striking. Keep your ears open to hear the rattling sound and keep safe distance.