Remote camera technology helps scientists safely monitor and study wildlife. In the case of the RattleCam live stream, remote cameras also help regular people enjoy nature from afar — unless they have ophidiophobia. As reported by Digital Trends, Project RattleCam promises to “uncover the secret lives of snakes” with cameras in California and Colorado that show large dens of rattlesnakes. In the case of the Colorado camera, which had 300 concurrent viewers at the time of writing, people can watch hundreds of prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) do their thing. The rookery welcomes dozens of pregnant snakes each summer, and if viewers get attached to a snake, they can even grab a screenshot and name it through an adoption process. “This is a big, big den for rattlesnakes. This is one of the biggest ones we know of,” Dr. Emily Taylor, Project RattleCam researcher leader and biology professor at California Polytechnic State University, tells the Associated Press. Taylor and her team set up the webcam in May, and they expect that the pregnant snakes will give birth sometime in August. These snakes aren’t born from eggs; prairie rattlesnake mothers give live birth. A second camera is set up at an undisclosed rookery along California’s central coast.
“Rattlesnakes are actually really good mothers. People don’t know that,” Taylor adds. She explains that it is extremely helpful when snake and nature enthusiasts watch the live stream and alert the team about exciting observations, as the science team couldn’t monitor everything on their own. “It truly is a group effort,” Taylor says. She has been studying mating systems and rattlesnake physiology for more than 25 years, and Project RattleCam is her first experience with community science. Dr. Taylor is joined by Scott Boback, associate professor of biology at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, and California Polytechnic State University graduate students Owen Bachhuber and Max Roberts. “I try to speak up for the underdog and to show people that rattlesnakes have this other side that’s really worthy of our admiration,” Dr. Taylor says. More wonderful nature-themed live streams are available on Explore.org, including ones showing bears in Alaska, bats in Texas, puffins in Maine, and many more critters.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
