Stats

Lifespan: 15-20 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Crepuscular
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Slithering
Breeding: Live Birth
Defense: Venom
Status: Common

About

A wide-ranging pit viper of western North America, equipped with heat-sensing facial pits that can detect temperature differences as small as 0.003 °C to locate warm-blooded prey in total darkness. Each skin shed adds one hollow keratin segment to its rattle, though the count is an unreliable age indicator since snakes shed several times per year.

Life cycle

1.
hatchling
A miniature snake emerges from the egg or from its mother (live-bearers), already venomous or strong-coiled in some species.
2.
juvenile
A juvenile sheds its skin, grows quickly, and hunts smaller prey than the adults.
3.
adult
Fully grown at adult length and pattern.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Crotalus
Species: Crotalus oreganus