Pair of Timber Rattlers

[uh60chick]

I was out and about with a few colleagues on Friday, 8/14/09, and spotted this pair just in the treeline. We sat and watched them from a pickup for quite a while, and even pulled up to within a few feet of them. They didn't pay us any attention at all. Each rattler looked to be about 8 years old. I'm assuming we witnessed a mating ritual. Herpers, what do you have to say about this?

None of us had a real camera along--these were all taken with my cellphone.

 

[Teegate]

It is interesting to see them even with a cell phone photo. Thanks!

Guy

 

[imkms]

Cool pix, two rattlers at once, and what appears to be a lot of action mixed in too. For most folks this is a once in a lifetime catch, thanks for posting.

 

[dragoncjo]

What you have there is two male rattlesnakes in combat. There probably was a female nearby that they were vying for. I've seen dozens and dozens of TR's but have never gotten to see two males in combat. That is a very cool expirience.....be sure not to disclose anything about the locality to anyone other than state officials.

 

[Teegate]

You need to get an old camera and keep in the vehicle

Guy

 

[dragoncjo]

To expand a little the one male is attempting to pin down the other male to assert its dominance and 'win' the female. Unlike most snake species timber rattlesnakes mate towards the end of summer when they are making their long journey's back to their winter dens.

 

[uh60chick]

Guy, I was in someone else's vehicle. I actually let somebody else drive, for a change.

I wouldn't tell anyone where they were beyond which state forest they were in. I probably couldn't pinpoint the location anyway. I wasn't driving, and was engrossed in conversation when my colleague said, "What the hell was that?" and backed up.

Our first thought was that they were fighting, but they weren't rattling or biting, so we figured they were lovers, not fighters. After we'd watched for five or ten minutes, they started to slither away from each other, but one doubled back and they started wrestling again. They frequently raised their heads up a good 15-18 inches and stayed upright like that for maybe 10 seconds at a time (another guy in the truck had noticed them and thought they were surveyor stakes or something).

One of the guys is another Piney with quite a few years on me, and he'd never seen anything like it either. We were definitely impressed with the show.

 

[bobpbx]

Very cool. I wish I had seen that.

 

[dragoncjo]

Also TR's in the pines and in general are very very docile(I'm serious) but that situation is the only one where they can become slightly aggresive. Males will often defend the female to protect her. Being that they are a big slow lumber snake this isn't all that dangerous, but certainly another reason to give these animals respect and a wide berth when walking by.

 

[woodjin]

Wow! very cool. You are a lucky girl to have seen that!! I never have.

 

[manumuskin]

Dragon is exactly on target.what you are seeing is a rattler fist fight without the blood and cops.
Al

 

[cousinmike]

You're a very lucky gal! I have been herping my entire life, and have seen many timbers in the Northeast, but have yet to see male to male combat. I am very envious but extremely happy for you. Make sure to take Dragoncjo's advice and don't disclose locality. Pine Barrens herps, esp. timbers and cornsnakes need all the help we can give them. Thanks, Mike C.

 

[Furball1]

AMAZING. Thanks for capturing a day in the life of two male rattlers.

 

[swwit]

Also TR's in the pines and in general are very very docile(I'm serious) but "that situation is the only one where they can become slightly aggresive".

Now now do I have to keep my eye on you? You know that the above quote is a mistake on your part. Sorry but I don't want to see someone get bit.:colbert:

 

[manumuskin]

Now now do I have to keep my eye on you? You know that the above quote is a mistake on your part. Sorry but I don't want to see someone get bit.:colbert:

I think what Dragon meant to imply is that if the snakes are left unmolested,not stepped on or toyed with they are quite content to leave us alone also.any snake stepped on will bite you or any snake being aggravated to the point of breaking will bite you.some snakes will bite much quicker then others.a black racer will bite you because he thinks it's fun,at least they seem to anyway.A rattler likes to conserve venom for prey and wiltry to slink away normally and will often dry bite to conserve the precious venom but don't count on it if bitten.
If all we did was shove each other around when we fight over women we'd be a better species but we frequently kill each other over less then the affections of a pretty woman.
snakes rule!

 

[kayakmac]

Also TR's in the pines and in general are very very docile(I'm serious) but that situation is the only one where they can become slightly aggresive. Males will often defend the female to protect her. Being that they are a big slow lumber snake this isn't all that dangerous, but certainly another reason to give these animals respect and a wide berth when walking by.

What about when they are shedding? Local lore is that they're quick to strike in August / September due to shedding. (Could be the heat of the season, but we stayed clear of the woods when cutting in the swamp for that reason.)

 

[dragoncjo]

Now now do I have to keep my eye on you?

What the heck are you talking about Steve???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

[manumuskin]

What the heck are you talking about Steve???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I think he thinks your a health risk because you believe rattlers are cute ,cuddly friends of ours.I however don't believe you were implying that we could take them into our laps and pet them,just that we had no fear of being hunted down and killed by them like prey.
I can say that i have caught ,handled and released four rattlers in my lifetime.one in wv,two in tenn and one here in the barrens.the other three were quite docile not even rattling till i had them in hand and then only weakly.the one in jersey was quite ornery and tried his best to make me lose an appendage but i had just run over him.I didn't actually hit him but my car passed over him before i could get it to stop and i think he had the snake poop scared out of him so he was quite irate when i got back to him.i captured ,photographed (later realized their was no film in the camera on this capture) and then let him go.he was a small one while the others were very large.maybe their meaner when their younger since their susceptible to being eaten by more critters?I really think it was the near death experience he had just had though that really ticked him off.
Al

 

[dragoncjo]

Al, that was sort of my point. I'm just trying to make people aware that these creatures aren't a threat to humans. They are very fearful creatures of humans, and should be treated with respect. But the point I was trying to make is they don't chase people, seek people out, etc. Steve just likes to analyze ever word I say....hah. But I really don't appreciate at all the public accusation that I'm someone to to keep your eye on, you know what I'm about, I make that quite obvious.....I have a permit to study these animals and its part of my job to clear up any misconceptions about these magnificent animals.

 

[GermanG]

My job also often involves talking to the public about these animals and it is amazing how many people mistakenly equate venomous with being aggressive. Many of them still think these, as well as all snakes, are best killed on sight. Besides all the other reasons to defend them, my fallback defense is usually that they have much more to fear from Lyme disease than they do from snakebite, and most of the prey that these snakes eat are potential hosts to deer ticks (more accurately-blacklegged ticks) so they should be thrilled that they are out there.