VIDEO: Rattlesnake Fights Hawk

Animals are always fighting for survival in the wild.

Eat or be eaten! That’s how things work out there.

But even so, you’d have to be one tough and hungry animal to try to make a meal out of a venomous rattlesnake!

After all, it’s one of the most dangerous snakes in the world.

According to Live Science, rattlesnakes are large, venomous snakes that are found throughout North and South America. The greatest concentration of them is in the Southwestern United States and in Northern Mexico. Arizona is home to 13 species of rattler, more than any other state. The most distinctive feature that these species share is the rattle.

Residents of the Southwestern United States likely have heard the distinctive buzz of these pit vipers. Their namesake rattle is a highly effective warning sign, signaling predators to stay away.

“Rattles are segments of keratin that fit loosely inside one another at the end of the snake’s tail,” explained Sara Viernum, a herpetologist based in Madison, Wisconsin. “These segments knock against each other to produce a buzzing sound when the snake holds its tail vertically and vibrates the rattle. Each time a rattlesnake sheds its skin it adds another segment to the rattle.”

Scientists consider the rattlesnake’s rattle a highly evolved and sophisticated warning system — which makes sense since, according to the San Diego Zoo, these are the newest and most evolved snakes in the world.

Rattlesnakes also hiss, a second element of its warning posture that is often overlooked and overshadowed by its rattle, writes Laurence Monroe Klauber in “Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind” (University of California Press, 1997).

Viernum said the behavior “is similar to a cat hissing when threatened by a dog. In rattlesnakes, hissing and rattling their tails both serve as warning signals.

“The process of hissing occurs when a snake forcefully expels air from the glottis within the throat,” Viernum continued.

“This causes structures within the glottis to rattle, creating the hissing sound.” The snake’s one functional lung has relatively large air capacity, and as the snake hisses, its body may swell up or deflate. Interestingly, snakes are deaf to airborne sounds, so the hiss is only a warning for animals that can hear and not a means of communication with other snakes.

Rattlesnakes can range from one to eight feet, depending on the species (the big one is the eastern diamondback), according to the National Wildlife Federation. They are thick-bodied snakes with keeled (ridged) scales in a variety of colors and patterns. Most species are patterned with dark diamonds, rhombuses or hexagons on a lighter background.

“Other distinctive physical characteristics include producing venom, heat-sensing facial pits, hinged fangs and live births,” said Viernum. “These characteristics are shared with other pit vipers such as the cottonmouthand copperhead.” After the rattle, rattlesnakes’ most distinctive physical feature is their triangular head. Also, they have vertical pupils, like cat’s eyes.

Young rattlesnakes do not yet have their rattles, though they are as dangerous as adults, according to the National Park Service at Yosemite. Furthermore, some adults may lose their rattles, so it is a good idea look out for the triangular head.