Northern Colorado home to rattlesnake 'mega-den,' and you can actually watch them
A Northern Colorado prairie rattlesnake den, make that a "mega-den," is causing quite the buzz.
Researchers say the den on undisclosed private land is home to as many as 2,000 rattlesnakes, according to reporting by USA Today.
Squeamish as it may make you, you can now actually get a rare glimpse into the often-reviled venomous reptile thanks to livestreaming of the slithering snakes on Project Rattle Cam, which recently went live.
"This livestream allows us to collect data on wild rattlesnakes without disturbing them, facilitating unbiased scientific discovery," Emily Taylor, project lead and a California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo biological sciences professor, said in a news release. "But even more important is that members of the public can watch wild rattlesnakes behaving as they naturally do, helping to combat the biased imagery we see on television shows of rattling, defensive and stressed snakes interacting with people who are provoking them.''
The den site among rocks and boulders attracts such large numbers of rattlesnakes because of its geologic features, which offer the snakes shelter and places to hide, the news release said.
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Via the livestream, the public can see pregnant rattlesnakes bask and interact and, ultimately, care for their pups, which is what their young born live are called.
"Viewers can watch closely to witness rare events such as predators visiting the den attempting to attack the rattlesnakes and the mass emergence of thirsty snakes to drink raindrops collected on their coiled bodies," the news release reads, noting that morning and evening are the best times to watch.
The solar-powered camera system for the live video feed was designed and installed by faculty and technicians from Cal Poly’s Bailey College of Science and Mathematics and funded mostly by donations, according to the news release.
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The release described Project RattleCam as "a community science project in which the public helps scientists study rattlesnakes." It also has a livestream from a small den in California. That livestream has been active during warmer months for the past three years and resumed streaming July 11 this year, the release said.
USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado rattlesnake 'mega-den' is must-watch livestream
