Social lives of rattlesnakes: because the snakes bask, breed, and hibernate together, recognizing their relatives is a key advantage, especially for females.

Publication: Natural History

Publication Date: 01-MAR-05

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So, what good are they anyway?"

I sigh as I hear this question, yet again, about the animals I study: rattlesnakes. I suppose anyone who spends taxpayer dollars studying animal behavior has to deal with that kind of skepticism at some point along the way. Answering such a question gets even trickier if what you study is small and seemingly insignificant, like a cricket. And getting a sympathetic ear for such a feared, hated, misunderstood, and potentially dangerous species as a rattlesnake is nearly impossible.

On this occasion, a retired truck driver has queried me over breakfast at the counter of a rural Pennsylvania diner. As it happens--though he doesn't know it--we are just a few miles from one of the largest concentrations of timber rattlesnake dens in the country. Rattlers, usually thought of as solitary tailshakers, actually breed in groups, making them an easy, albeit elusive, target for hunters--not to mention the people who take part in the dreadful "rattlesnake roundups," in the mistaken belief that killing snakes improves the woods. The group behavior of rattlesnakes is the focus of my research. Yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to study large groups of the snakes, because their numbers are dwindling. Pennsylvania continues to be one of the few places in the United States where timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) are still common.

Immediately I'm on the defensive--cautious about revealing too much about where I'm going to study the snakes, yet eager to respond. Being flip, I nearly say, "Well, what good are you?" Instead, I settle on an easy, utilitarian answer: they help control rodents.

But the timber rattlesnake is more than a simple rodent-eater. As top-level predators, rattlesnakes are an integral part of the ecosystem, contributing to the overall health of the forests. The snakes influence prey populations and perform vital ecosystem functions through their natural effect on the dynamics of the food web, helping to maintain balances between herbivore populations, plants, and predators. The loss of any one species from a community may not be catastrophic, but the ongoing decline of many populations in...

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