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Like all pit vipers, rattlesnakes have two organs that can sense radiation; their eyes and a set of heat-sensing "pits" on their faces that enable them to locate prey and move towards it, based on the prey's thermal radiation signature. These pits have a relatively short effective range of about 1 ft (0.30 m) but give the rattlesnake a distinct ...
Based on examination of the snout-to-vent length, juvenile timber rattlesnakes were found to differ slightly in dietary preferences from adult rattlesnakes, being more likely to consume smaller prey such as shrews (averaging 8 g (0.28 oz) and unable to attack subadult eastern cottontail rabbits (averaging 500–1,000 g (1.1–2.2 lb) but ...
The snakes also feed from within on energy-rich lipid stores. The most interesting finding was the snakes grew during the study, indicating while the snake's mass was shrinking, it was putting its resources into skeletal muscles and bone. [17] A key participant in the food chain, it is an important predator of many small rodents, rabbits, and ...
Eastern diamondback rattlesnake at the Saint Louis Zoo Detail of rattle. The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is the largest rattlesnake species and is one of the heaviest known species of venomous snake, with one specimen shot in 1946 measuring 2.4 m (7.8 ft) in length and weighing 15.4 kg (34 lb).
Infrared sensing snakes use pit organs extensively to detect and target warm-blooded prey such as rodents and birds. Blind or blindfolded rattlesnakes can strike prey accurately in the complete absence of visible light, [13] [14] though it does not appear that they assess prey animals based on their body temperature. [15]
Crotalus oreganus, commonly known as the Western rattlesnake or northern Pacific rattlesnake, [4] [5] is a venomous pit viper species found in western North America from the Baja California Peninsula to the southern interior of British Columbia.
Crotalus cerastes, known as the sidewinder, horned rattlesnake or sidewinder rattlesnake, [3] is a pit viper species belonging to the genus Crotalus (the rattlesnakes), and is found in the desert regions of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Like all other pit vipers, it is venomous.
The main prey of C. catalinensis is Slevin's mouse (Peromyscus slevini). The diet of this rattlesnake is a fraction of the diet of its closest relative, the Red diamond rattlesnake, Crotalus ruber. C. ruber, like most rattlesnakes, frequently prey on lizards and small mammals such as mice, rats, and squirrels.