With any luck, this guide will also reduce the needless slaughter of harmless king and gopher snakes as well as enable a more comfortable coexistence between the intruders and the native species. Note that the precautions and recommendations in this article can be used to reduce interactions between humans and other, innocuous snakes. General Information Rattlers have good vision to at least 15 feet away under moderate illumination. This may result in their moving their head from side to side as they try to get a good picture of something. Rattlers are too slow to outrun or dodge even the slowest of their enemies, thus the need for good long-range vision.
Spring is the period of greatest activity.
Emerging from winter hibernation, they are hungry and looking for mates, as this is also the breeding season. During this time they will eat prodigiously, look for females to court, and will battle competing males. During these times of stress, and when trying to eat and when in their opaque stage several days before they are ready to shed, they are most likely to act in an aggressive manner when disturbed. Snakes migrate to and from their winter denning site, so aggregations of them may be found during a short period of time during the spring and fall. Dens are usually in rocky outcroppings in the hills, or in deep animal burrows.