Herbert Stout, age 13, of Houston, Tex.,
Why does a rattlesnake rattle his tail?
Rattlesnakes are native Americans, found nowhere else in the world, There are some 28 different species and in length are from two feet to more than seven feet. They range from southern Canada to way down south of Central America and only a few areas in this range are entirely free of them. Most of them, however, enjoy life in the sunny, dry deserts and prairies of the Southwest and Central America.
Some people think that he buzzes his rattle to sound a warning to his victims before he strikes. This would suggest that the rattler shows a sense of courtesy and fair play, which is far from true. He is an irritable, jittery character with little or no feeling for the finer things in life, Like all snakes, he is not very bright, but he has enough instinctive sense to know that his victims flee from his buzzing rattle ‑if they can. If it were a warning signal, he would never catch the rat, the rabbit or the gopher he needs for dinner and all our rattlers would have perished from hunger long ago.
As a rule, the rattler is a solitary fellow who prefers to be left alone. When disturbed, he tends to burst into a tantrum. Aside from man, he must cope with many deadly enemies that hunt him without mercy. Owls, hawks, ravens and roadrunners fight and kill him whenever they can. A cute little coyote also destroys the rattler. Goats, deer and horses will sometimes stomp a rattler to death. He also is attacked by king snakes and racers.
Usually, but not always, the rattler rattles his tail before he strikes a victim and also when scared by most of his enemies. But he does not rattle when confronted by his snaky enemies. When he meets a king snake, he lowers his head, arches his back and lunges forward with all his might.
A small or young rattler will lose the battle which follows, but a rattler bigger than a king snake or a racer may escape.
There is no evidence to suggest, then, that the rattle is a warning. Nor is it a love song, for a rattler does not seem to hear the buzz of another. T o find a clue, we might consider the strange antics of certain of his distant cousins. The puff adder gives an angry‑sounding hiss before he strikes. The deadly cobra rears up and spreads his terrifying hood. Most likely, the rattlers rattle is also a weapon of terror to strike fear in the hearts of his little victims. The sudden fear may force a bunny or a gopher to stop just long enough for the snake to strike.
The rattle is a row of horny, bell‑shaped buttons at the tip of the tail. The tail is lifted and vibrated back and forth 40 to 60 times a second and the hiss is made by the horny buttons vibrating against each other. It sounds like the hiss of escaping steam or the spatter of frying bacon and the rattle of a big diamond snake may be heard for 100 feet.