Rattlesnakes on YouTube — mesmerizing? Or the stuff of nightmares?

Admittedly, livestreams of hundreds of rattlesnakes slithering over and between one another isn’t as charming as say, kitten videos, but high-tech solar-powered webcams in Colorado and California are revealing to the world new discoveries about the secret lives of rattlesnakes.
Researchers say they hope the new knowledge will help dispel myths about the much-maligned reptiles.
California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a snake removal company, Central Coast Snake Services, are collaborating on Project RattleCam, which captures rattlesnakes in their habitats on a livestream 24/7. The general public can view livestreams of the two sites through October. The feed resumes in May.
A “mega den” at an undisclosed location in Colorado where some 2,000 rattlesnakes live has provided fascinating glimpses into the social structure of rattlesnakes. For instance, pregnant females that have not given birth have been observed “babysitting” other snakes’ newborn offspring.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, rattlesnakes are ovoviviparous. They don’t lay eggs but instead the eggs are carried by females for about three months and then they give birth to live young. An average-sized brood is eight snakes.
Typically, rattlesnakes live 10 to 25 years.
Scientists watching the Colorado site have also observed the snakes tightly coiling their bodies into makeshift vessels to capture water to drink. Webcams have also captured snakes’ reactions to birds swooping in to try to grab one of the snakes.
There are 36 species of rattlesnakes, most of which inhabit the United States. The snakes Project RattleCam is studying are Western rattlesnakes in California and prairie rattlesnakes in Colorado, which are found in much of the Central and Western United States, Canada and Mexico.
Closer to home, firefighting crews battling the Rudd Creek Fire in Farmington, Utah, have encountered sizable rattlesnakes along the steep, rocky terrain they are navigating. Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest authorities released a video of one large rattlesnake.
Rattlesnakes do not seek out people. Generally speaking, people who are bitten by the venomous snakes have stumbled across them or they have attempted to handle one, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
Rattlesnakes eat mostly rodents but may also eat insects and other reptiles, the federation’s website states.
Rattlesnake bites are a medical emergency and can be fatal, but rarely. Between 7,000 and 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the U.S. annually, but only five of them die each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.