Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
Pit Viper and Viper Family (Viperidae)
Timber rattlesnake is a venomous thick-bodied snake, usually reaching 3-5 ft in length. The base color is sulfur yellow, pinkish tan, brown, gray or black, with large yellow to brown to black chevrons and blotches across its back and sometimes with a chestnut strip down its back. It has a large broad angular head, vertical pupils, and a large pit between the nostril and eye. Its fangs are hinged. The scales are keeled. Has rattles at the end of the black tail. It gives live birth every 2-6 yrs to around 10 young, which do not stay with the mother long. Found in the eastern US and is the only rattlesnake in the northeast. It occurs generally in hardwood and mixed hardwood-pine forests, especially in rugged terrain, and flatwoods and swampy areas in the south. Forages mostly on small mammals and sometimes on frogs, other snakes, and birds. Most active at night during summer and in the daytime during spring and fall. Needs places for winter dens like crevices and burrows where it may congregate with many other snakes over winter. When threatened, it frequently will coil or freeze, sometimes rattle it tail, and strike if provoked. Usually takes much provocation to strike. Its venom is potent. Also known as canebrake rattlesnake, banded rattlesnake, bastard rattlesnake, black rattlesnake, canebraker, cane rattler, mountain rattlesnake, velvet-tail rattler, and yellow rattlesnake. Listed as endangered in CT, IN, MA, NH, NJ, OH, VA, and VT; threatened in IL, MN, NY, and TX; and species of special concern in KS, NC, PA, and SC.
Copyright Brett Miley
