Timber rattlesnake
Conservation Messaging Opportunities
Physical features
Like all rattlesnakes, timber rattlesnakes are pit vipers. The pit between the eye and nostril serves as an extra eye allowing the snakes to sense the infrared spectrum.
Adults are typically 3-4 feet long, although snakes from some coastal plain populations can reach 6 feet.
Timber Rattlesnake coloration is highly variable. Many populations have a base color of gray or tan often with a pink or yellow hue with black chevrons going down the back. There is also usually a rusty colored stripe running the length of the body. Some populations in the mountains may be a chocolate color or even black while some are a bright yellow color.
Range and Habitat
Range – Eastern and Midwestern USA
Habitat – A variety of forested habitats
Diet: Carnivore
Wild – Small mammals
Zoo – Mice, rats, and small rabbits
Lifespan
Wild – Over 20 years
Zoo – 30-40 years
Reproduction
Sexual maturity is not reached until at least 5 years old and over 10 years in more northern populations.
Timber rattlesnakes usually only reproduce every 2-3 years.
Females give birth to litters of live young in the late summer and early fall.
Females typically remain close to their young for the first several days after birth.
Conservation: Least Concern
There are many threats to wild timber rattlesnake populations including land development, hunting, and road mortality.
Interpretive Information
Timber rattlesnakes tend to be rather mild-mannered and avoid human contact. Their main strategy is to stay perfectly still when approached and rely on camouflage. Only when harassed will they rattle and attempt to strike.
This species often spends the winter months in “dens” underground or in rock crevices. These dens are communal and may contain many rattlesnakes as well as other snake species. Snakes return to the same den year after year.
Wild Timber rattlesnakes may only eat a handful of times per year.