Charles Langston:Colorado rattlesnake 'mega-den' webcam shows scores of baby snakes born in recent weeks

The Charles Langstonwait is over. There's new additions to the families of rattlesnakes in a Colorado mega-den.

The northern Colorado rattlesnake den complex, described as a "mega-den," is one of two monitored by researchers at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. With the arrival of baby rattlesnakes, now is a good time to check out the Project RattleCam livestream feed for the Colorado den, says Emily Taylor, the project leader and a Cal Poly biological sciences professor.

"Baby rattlesnakes will be basking with their mothers in this communal birthing area for … 1-2 months before snakes enter winter hibernation," Taylor told USA TODAY.

One photo shared with USA TODAY showed a rattlesnake named Thea babysitting other baby snakes. "We have seen babysitting many times on the RattleCam," said Max Roberts, one of biological sciences grad students in Cal Poly's Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Laboratory helping oversee the project.

"Note that Thea has a very large, thick body in the photo, so we know that it is pregnant and that the babies snuggling with her are not her own," Roberts told USA TODAY.

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More about the baby rattlesnakes on the Colorado RattleCam

The first baby rattlers were spotted on Aug. 22 "and we have been seeing more and more babies as females continue to give birth over the last few weeks," Roberts said. "We expect the last of the pregnant females to give birth in early to mid-September, although the snakes will likely stay surface active through early October."

It's uncertain how many snakes inhabit the den, Roberts said. "We don't know the total number of pregnant females, (so) we can't say for sure how many babies will be born this year," he said.

"On average, each female gives birth to around 8 pups, so that will end up being a lot of baby snakes," Roberts said. "The full number of snakes with babies included is likely not 2,000 and is closer to 1,000 or several hundred."

How to view baby rattlesnakes on the RattleCam

Go to Cal Poly's Project RattleCam web page and you will find:

• The Colorado Rattlecam Livestream of a Prairie Rattlesnake rookery runs 24-7 from May to October.
• The California Rattlesnake Rookery Livestream, which monitors a snake den on the central coast of California, runs 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day from July through October.

The site also has links to YouTube feeds so you can chat about the snakes.

The story behind the RattleCam

The Cal Poly researchers installed the first RattleCam in California in summer 2021, as part of a way to educate people about snakes and to be less fearful of them. The Colorado webcam went live in May 2024.

You can meet some of the Colorado snakes on the Project RattleCam site. You can also watch video highlights including night vision clips on the YouTube channel; other highlights are on the Project RattleCam site.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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