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Western Diamondback Rattlesnake — printable fact sheet
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Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus atrox
The western diamondback (Crotalus atrox) is the rattlesnake responsible for the largest share of serious snakebites in the United States, not because its venom is exceptional but because it is abundant, large, and unusually willing to stand its ground: where many rattlesnakes fl…
Did you know?
- The Western Diamondback is responsible for the majority of snakebite incidents in the United States, but fatalities are rare due to prompt medical treatment.
- You cannot age a rattlesnake by counting its rattle segments: it adds several a year and loses the old ones. The muscles that shake the rattle fire up to 90 times a second and can keep going for hours without tiring. Its heat-sensing pits can detect temperature differences of a few thousandths of a degree, enough to hunt a mouse in total darkness. Rattlesnake roundups flush snakes from their dens using gasoline poured down burrows, which kills the tortoises, owls and lizards sharing them.
What I learned
Draw the western diamondback rattlesnake
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