Cal Poly recently posted a livestream of rattlesnakes on their Facebook page. The video was taken by an unnamed student and has been viewed over 2 million times since it was uploaded on August 29th.
The what kind of snakes live in southern california is a question that has been asked for a long time. Cal Poly recently posted their first-ever livestream of rattlesnakes.
“I believe that by seeing rattlesnakes behave like they do in real life, people would think of rattlesnakes in a more positive light.”
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Researchers from Cal Poly’s Department of Biological Sciences have put up the world’s first webcast of rattlesnakes in the wild. During the day, viewers may watch pregnant mother snakes and their babies at a huge communal nest on California’s Central Coast.
“On television, rattlesnakes are depicted as vicious, aggressive creatures; nothing could be farther from the truth,” said Emily Taylor, a biology professor who heads the study team. “I believe that by seeing rattlesnakes acting naturally, with moms caring for their babies and even babysitting for one another, people would think of rattlesnakes in a more positive light.”
Taylor anticipates the puppies being born in the coming days and staying in the rookery with their moms until mid- to late September.
We’re going to get through this together, Atascadero
The snakes will then spread throughout the countryside in search of food until late autumn, when they will hibernate until spring. From the end of September until the beginning of next spring, the camera will be switched off.
The webcast is part of Initiative RattleCam, a citizen science project in which members of the public assist scientists in their research on rattlesnakes. The livestreaming camera in California is the newest addition to the project, which has gathered time-lapse pictures shot in Colorado.
“We want to put cameras on snake aggregations across the globe in the future to help us better understand the habits of these sophisticated, social animals,” Taylor added.
The California rookery is located on private property on the Central Coast at an unknown location. Cal Poly’s Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities Grant Program provided funding for the study.
Links
bit.ly/snakelivestream is the URL for the webcast.
YouTube channel for Project RattleCam: www.youtube.com/channel/UC535H ogEQbBwfXNDMr4Wtw
www.centralcoastsnakeservices.com/projectrattlecam.html is the webpage for Project RattleCam.
@RattleCams on Twitter
The College of Science and Mathematics at Cal Poly offers a lab-intensive education in a friendly, family environment. Undergraduate research is at the heart of the college’s Learn by Doing philosophy, allowing students to collaborate closely with faculty mentors on real-world research projects. Every summer, more than 400 students participate in the Frost Summer Undergraduate Research Program, where they study side by side with academics. Undergraduate and post-baccalaureate teacher education programs are housed within the institution, providing prospective teachers in the state with a solid foundation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Cal Poly is a nationally recognized four-year comprehensive polytechnic institution in San Luis Obispo, California, with six academic colleges. Visit calpoly.edu/college-of-science-and-mathematics for more information.
As an example:
As if Loading…
Related
The california black and yellow snake is a rattlesnake that was filmed by the Cal Poly students. It’s the first-ever livestream of rattlesnakes.
Related Tags
- local snake identification
- bay area snake identification
- snakes in orange county
- lake tahoe snakes
- california garden snakes
