This heavy bodied snake can be brown, orange, black, or yellow with black or dark brown cross bands along its back. The tail is usually black and tipped with a rattle. The rattle, which is probably the snake’s most distinguishable feature, is a series of modified scales on the end of the tail that are loosely connected. When the snake feels threatened it will shake the rattle creating a loud buzzing or rattling sound.
Behavior
Timber rattlesnakes are ambush predators. They will use smell and heat sensing pits that are located between each eye and nostril to locate prey. Their main diet is rodents. Generally the snake will release the prey immediately after envenomation. The prey will escape but the rattlesnake will track the prey and consume it after it has succumbed to the venom.
Reproduction
A female gives birth to 5-14 offspring in late summer or early fall. A female timber rattlesnake gives birth only every 3-4 years.