LeRoy Tabb

Votes: 6614

The only North American bird I can think of that would have any remote possibility of being confused with a rattlesnake would be a Worm-eating Warbler. Since I don’t think it’s trying to mimic a rattlesnake (if it is, it’s doing it poorly), I think its song, like that of other birds, is simply territorial and to attract mates.

Although I know of no birds that mimic rattlesnakes, I did once see a Black Snake moving through dry leaves. When I approached it, I heard a rattling sound. It caused me to stop and look again, but it was indeed a Black Snake. It was shaking its tail in the leaves making a sound like a rattlesnake. I’ve never heard of this type of defense mechanism, but it would probably work.

Eric Brenner

Votes: 444

Juvenile burrowing owls make a sound exactly like a rattlesnakes, probably to deter coyotes. The owls live in burrows in the ground which they share with ground squirrels and prairie dogs, and are vulnerable to predators.

Anne Fletcher-Jones

Votes: 6321

Barn owl can make a noise that apparently sounds lik a rattlesnake by clicking their beaks rapidly, though I’ve never heard this myself. They also hiss.

Steve Horton

Votes: 5742

How close can you get to a rattlesnake?

Heck, you can stand on one. Of course he’ll bite you if you do. You probably want to know how close you can get safely. I’ve been around a lot of rattlers and have yet to meet a really aggressive one. Water moccasins are a different matter. Personally, I’m comfortable getting to within four feet of a rattler, which is about how close I need to get to lop his head off with a machete if he’s in my yard. If he’s just minding his own business out in the country, I leave him alone, and have no need to get that close.

Claire Jordan

Votes: 3241

The final scale on the tip of the snake’s tail is shaped like a more complicated version of one of those plastic beads that have a little prong that pops into a hole in the next bead in line.

As the snake grows, new scales form underneath the old ones and it sheds the old scales, but because the new scale on the tail-tip has a prong which pops into the old scale, the old scales on the tail-tip aren’t shed but build up into a long string of pop-together beads which rattle when shaken.

Deanna Crownover

Votes: 6163

Rattlesnakes are a venomous type of snake found all across the southern parts of America. From the Western deserts to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, there are Rattlers.

Here in my state (Florida), we have three different species of Rattler. Canebrake, Eastern Diamondback and pygmy.

Rattlesnakes are shy in nature and one of the least aggressive of the venomous snakes in our state.

It is possible to grab a 6-foot rattlesnake by the tail and have it do everything in its power to escape… They only strike as a last resort if they are being hunted. (That doesn’t mean they won’t strike if startled and, in a striking position already.)

They are called “the gentleman snake” because they warn you of their presence by vibrating their tails which have literal rattles on the end.

They can strike with incredible force ( hard enough to throw a fully grown man to the ground) and can strike up to half their body length.

This is a rattler (eastern diamondback) that I killed with a stick, a four-wheeler and a bottle of Scotch when I was 17. (Forgive the picture of a picture, we had actual cameras back then)

The snake had killed the rabbit and, what I really wanted was to see what the snake bite did to the rabbit. In order for me to retrieve the rabbit, I had to kill the snake… He was not giving up his supper!

I’m 5′9″. The Rattler measured 5 ft 10. It had fifteen rattles and a “button” (new rattle being formed at the tip).

This is a Canebrake rattler, which are the loveliest of rattlers in my opinion.

We also we also have Dusky Pygmy rattlers. Even though they are by far the smallest of rattlers, (only reaching inches in length), they are one of the most dangerous.

They are an “ambush snake”. They will sit in one place, completely immobile, for hours and wait for prey.

Very often, dogs get bitten by them and, it’s usually on the nose.

Ben Ryed

Votes: 1020

For communication. If they are mimicking rattlesnakes, this would likely be useful only when they are in the nest.

Abe

Votes: 1823

Very very far from unique in all truth. I suggest therefore that you pick up a dictionary and learn the correct meaning of the word unique .

Wander out into the Arizona desert one night and you will find out rapidly just how unique they are or not….

Make sure you have enough anti venom, bandages. dressings , skin swabs. and sterile syringes,before you do though eh !

Adrian Corfield

Votes: 9634

What type of bird imitates all sounds?

The Lyrebird can imitate almost everything.

Humans, other birds and animals as well as cars, chainsaws, mobile phones, camera shutters.

Michael Fetterman

Votes: 7988

Yes, you can have tame examples of any animal, but that doesn’t mean that any animal can be tamed.

Back in the eighties, we had a couple rattlesnakes, and a couple cobras, “Fixed”,or actually a surgery called a venomductectomy, where the tube connecting the venom sack to the fang is severed and tied in two places, to ensure that it wouldn’t grow back together.

I accidentally tested it six months later, it was successful, when during feeding, a large fixed Diamond Back Rattlesnake, got my knuckle, with no effect at all.

I should point out, we only did these surgeries to accommodate our insurance company in order to take these animals to schools for educational lectures, which we did thousands of per year, I mean THOUSANDS. During one of these, a child in the front row, sneezed so violently, he threw himself forward, and in the process, terrified the rattlesnake off it’s comfy perch on top the stool, center stage, causing me to instinctively catch her. I froze realizing I had a rattlesnake in my hand, and I was in front of four hundred people, and as I was standing with my hand flat, she just coiled up on it and lay still.

I realized that all animals respond to you, exactly the same as what you put out.

Not that you can tame them, but you only get the respect back, that you give.

By the end of the summer, that rattlesnake was a babydoll. The other one that bit me, he never calmed down. The two cobras, I worked with them, One, became quite shy, and would constantly, run, or crawl away, and basically say go away, leave me alone. The other, stayed scared cobra his whole life, he calmed considerably, but still did the show, every time.

The are all individuals, the all have good days, bad days, little brains that miss read cues. Accidents can always happen. You don’ t want to be hospitalized for an ooops with one these. It really hurts And is very dangerous. But yes, even a Black Mamba can be tamed.

Cody Williams

Votes: 9593

Absolutely. Coachwhips are one of a handful of snakes native to the US that are “ophiophagus” meaning, snake eaters. Some of the other ophiophagus native snakes include those in the genus Lampropeltis (milksnakes and kingsnakes), or genus Coluber (racers).

Going to disagree with Al here that coachwhips chase people. You hear this pretty often but any evidence provided is anecdotal and likely a misunderstanding of the snakes behavior – for example, snake is trying to flee but it chooses an escape route in your direction (snakes aren’t exactly brilliant animals). Actually chasing you with the purpose of inflicting a bite has not been documented.

Steve Hawkins

Votes: 8499

It depends a bit on the speed at which the snake is vibrating its tail, the size and type of snake, etc. Typically, a slow rattle from a larger snake sounds a bit like dried beans in the pod—it’s sort of a “ch-ch-ch-ch” sounds, tinny and bright. Imagine you have a maraca that was paper-thin—as you slowly shake it back and forth, the beans inside strike the outer shell with a rattling sound. When the snake becomes more agitated, the sounds becomes a high-pitched “buzzzzzz”. The volume and pitch depend on the size and type of snake. Pygmy and Massasauga Rattlesnakes make such a high-pitched sound that it reminds me more of an insect’s buzz than anything. It definitely doesn’t make you think “Oh, a rattlesnake!” the moment you hear it. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Easter Diamond and Timber Rattlesnake are much larger and older specimens with intact rattles can generate an impressive buzzing noise.

Jim Miller

Votes: 7363

Can rattlesnakes “lose” their rattle?

Yes they can. The closest call I ever had with a Timber Rattlesnake was when I stepped on one that, PTL, was tangled in brush. It had only one rattle despite being over 4 feet long. The ones that size have 6 or more. You could see where its other rattles had been pulled off.

Chirag Manoj

Votes: 1116

What happens when you remove the rattle part of the rattlesnake? Does the snake die or can it regrow the rattle?

So for answering this question , we first need to understand what the rattle is. The rattle is the very first line of defense of the snake, it uses the rattle to warn and drive off predatory animals that pose a threat to it. The rattle itself is a huge mass of keratin and keratin is the same protein which also constitutes our hair and nails. The whole structure of the rattle is composed of interlocked segments which is made up of this protein and each of these segments are made my modifying the scales that cover up the tip of the snake. As compared to other snakes rattlesnakes are born with a

Donna Fernstrom

Votes: 4579

Did avian dinosaurs sound like birds?

Avian dinosaurs are birds, the words mean the same thing.

Dana Tweedy

Votes: 5823

Do rattlesnakes rattle before they strike?

Not always.

When a rattlesnake rattles, it is giving a warning. It is telling you that you are getting too close, and that it wants you to move away. The snake does not want to bite, as it knows you aren’t prey, and it doesn’t want to waste the venom. But it will defend itself. The important thing, is that that the snake knows you are there. It is trying to make you go away.

If you should happen to step on a snake that doesn’t know you were there, it will likely strike without warning.

Ted Englert

Votes: 612

What animal sounds like a rattlesnake at night?

A rattlesnake. React accordingly.

K C Jobe

Votes: 3625

What bird kills rattlesnakes?

Hawks, chaparral and a few others regularly eat snakes of any kind.

Priya Matthew

Votes: 6291

How do rattlesnakes detect sounds?

Like other snakes, rattlesnakes don’t have ears and can’t hear most sounds. They detect movement by sensing vibrations in the ground. Their eyes see well even in low light. The rattlesnake’s triangular head contains a hollow spot between the eyes and nostrils called pit organs which contain a membrane that can detect infrared radiation from warm bodies up to one meter away.

At night, the pit organs allow snakes to ‘see’ an image of their predator or prey as an infrared camera does which gives them a unique extra sense.

Ed T.

Votes: 3666

How does a rattlesnake know when to strike and when not to?

My property borders on SoCal wild lands, and we have at least 3 different species of rattlesnakes. I relocate a lot of snakes about a mile down the creek away from homes.

Most of the rattlers around here are Southern Pacifics, very docile. I think I’ve caught 6 or 7 since March. This year I’ve caught 3 Red Westerns, which have a grumpier disposition. Finally, we’re right on the south western edge of the Mojave Green’s territory. I’ve gone 2 years without catching one. I’m glad, because Mojaves have a nasty disposition.

All those snakes were caught with a snake stick and a barrel. My snake stick

Janice Jones

Votes: 3390

Do birds perceive sounds better than humans?

Yes they do actually and their hearing of sounds is extremely sensitive, which supersedes the hearing range of a human being. They can also distinguish between good sounds and the not so good sounds. When my bird Sparklet was alive, I was just starting out to learn how to play the keyboard and by that time Sparklet had crippled herself, because she kept gnawing on one of her talons and eventually she developed bumble foot. So I used to sit her on a little cushion on the shelf overlooking my keyboard and when I was playing the melody in tune, she was falling asleep and as soon as I hit a WRONG

David Kirshner

Votes: 6483

What makes a rattlesnakes tail rattle?

Rattlesnakes have an enlarged scale at the end of their body with thicker than usual keratin (the hard material that makes up their scales, the outer layer of which they shed). The scale has an odd shape to it, with constrictions (narrow areas) so when the snake sheds its skin the thick layer over this scale doesn’t drop off, but remains loosely attached to the end of the snake. Every time the snake sheds its skin, another one of these loose remnants of hard keratin gets added to the chain that are already stuck on, forming the rattle. When the snake vibrates its tail, these loose, individual

Mercedes R. Lackey

Votes: 6624

What is the prettiest sounding bird?

I like mockingbirds because of the vast number of songs they can learn.

Mark Lapierre

Votes: 104

Do rattlesnakes sound like cicadas?

Having heard lots of both, I started herping and reading at around 3–3 1/2 yrs old, living in Sonoran desert for most of that time. Have done snake removal for over 42 yrs including many many rattlers. To my ears cicadas are higher, louder and long periodicity. Rattlesnakes a bit lower, as they’re on the ground the way we perceive it is different. But then I’ve had a great deal of practice! If you hear something hinky, stop, look around. If the rattling noise direction is determined, go another way! Most rattlesnake bites, dry and otherwise come from we humans intentionally engaging them. Bite

Michael Smith

Votes: 6892

What animal makes a sound like a rattlesnake?

A rattlesnake’s sound is made by twitching the tail very quickly and rattling the individual segments of the rattle. It’s the high rate of speed that the rattle is shaken that gives the buzzing sound. Many, many snakes when they’re nervous, anxious, or angry will shake their tail in the same way. It’s kind of a threat response. When found in dry leaves or dry brush oftentimes that can sound exactly like a rattlesnake. I wouldn’t go around looking for it, because it’s usually a rattlesnake, but nevertheless I’ve had King snakes, Gopher snakes, Long nose snakes and a few others that demonstrated

Vince S

Votes: 1197

What sound does a chickadee bird make?

Chickadees are small, plump birds with long narrow tails and distinctive black cap and bib. They are acrobatic foragers, often hanging upside down while searching for food. Chickadees are very social birds and often travel in pairs or small flocks. Chickadees are found throughout North America in wooded areas.

They will also visit backyard bird feeders where they will eat sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet. Chickadees are an important part of the forest ecosystem, as they help to control populations of insects by eating them.

They have a variety of vocalizations, but the most common call of the

David Simpson

Votes: 3040

Why do rattlesnakes make noise when they strike?

They don’t…

The rattle noise is a warning – to stay away. However – they may still be rattling as they strike out.

Venom is time-consuming to replace. A snake doesn’t want to waste it on biting something too big to eat. Therefore – the rattle should be enough to warn off potential predators.

Alicia Todd

Votes: 7842

Do large snakes make sounds?

I had a 6 foot python, it had the ability to make a hissing noise, but never did as it never felt the need.

This snake though made noise in other ways, like scaring me in the middle of the night with a loud ‘THUD’ as he dropped his back end from his branch to meet the rest of him on the bottom of his enclosure or when he just plainly fell off his branch too busy watching tv)

But in the wild ive only ever heard them sneaking through the grass, a soft rustling sound, and being Deadly Eastern brown snake territory we dont stick around to sight the snake!