< Back | Name: | Timber Rattlesnake | | Family: | Venomous Snakes | | Scientific Name:
| Crotalus horridus | | Description: | Pit viper, keeled scales. Head and body can be gray, yellow, grayish or yellowish brown, with 15-34 Vshaped black bands on the body; rusty or reddish stripe down center of back. Tail jet black; origin of the name “velvet-tail rattler.” Young are patterned like adults. Adults average 36-60 inches in length. | | Range: | Statewide. | | Habits and Habitat: | Occurs in hardwood, mixed pinehardwood, bottomland hardwood forests and rocky or brushy fields and hillsides. Active April-October; prowls at night during hot weather. Breeds in fall or early spring, and 3-16 young are born August-October. Eats shrews, gophers, rodents, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels and birds. Researchers have observed radio-tagged medium-sized adults in trees, presumably in search of prey. |
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Click Photo to Enlarge Suzanne Collins |
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