It's summertime, and rattlesnakes are running rampant throughout Colorado. Now, a "mega den" has been discovered in northern Colorado by researchers at California Polytechnic State University.
As part of a new project, scientists have set up a livestream camera so people worldwide can watch the snakes' private lives 24/7. The "mega-den" has geologic features, allowing hundreds of prairie snakes to hide and seek shelter.
Emily Taylor, a professor of biological sciences at Cal Poly, said the project, aka Project RattleCam, has two goals: observing snake behavior without disturbing it and changing people's perspectives.
"It's to show people that this is how rattlesnakes actually are," Taylor said. "That they're gentle animals, that just want to be left alone to eat their rodents and care for their babies in peace."
"It's important that if we don't necessarily admire them [snakes], that we at least respect them," Taylor added.
The den is currently filled with pregnant female snakes, who are expected to have their pups in late August. So, the number of snakes in the den will pick up in September when males and nonpregnant females return from hunting rodents. The camera will be turned off in winter and back on in the spring.
Donations mainly fund the project. "This project is for people," Taylor said. "It's a community science project, so it's funded by people and it's for them. Us scientists are just there to help guide and learn as we go."
