IT'S NOT A BABY'S RATTLER
If you hear a rattle in tall grass that sounds like a baby's rattler, walk with caution it could cause you a few days of sickness.
Because of the sunny weather that we have been having in San Francisco Bay Area and in Foster City lately, rattlesnakes have been waking up from their winter hibernation. Several have already been spotted on the mountains in South San Francisco, and along Highway 280 above San Mateo, California.
The rattle that you would hear is from the hard, loose fitting rings that rattle against each other at the end of a rattlesnakes tale. The rattle, it is thought, developed as a protection for the snake to keep other animals from stepping on it. The scales of the snake are made from keratin, which is the same material that our fingernails are made of, but not like our fingernails it does not grow. The snake will shed its scales several times a year. This is the reason why you can see the scales, or skin, of a snake when you are walking in or near tall grass.
If you ever watched a snake move in a straight line, you will see them move on their belly's scales, these are called scutes--they grip the ground similar to the thread of a car's tire. By shortning the muscles attached to their scutes, they will push themselves forward inside their skin--as soon as the belly scales released their grip, their skin moves forward too. Rattlesnakes can also move in S-bends, similar to other snakes, by twisting their back.
Rattlesnakes can or will eat rabbits, mice, and rats, which are not to big for a snake to swallow--snakes can open their mouth wide enough to swallow a small rabbit in one gulp. There are legaments inside the snakes mouth that act like elastic bands, which helps the mouth to stretch wide enough for the food.
You wonder why a snake does not bite itself with its curved fangs that look big for its mouth. The answer is that the fangs fold up towards the roof of the closed mouth. Also the snake has a tiny hole near the bottom of each eye called a pit. Here's where nature put in heat detectors, which are so sensitive they can pick up the heat of a small mouse.
Here in the Foster City area there are snakes, but not all of the snakes are as deadly as the rattlesnake. Just remember, that a person will seldome die from a rattlesnake bite unless he panics, does not get immediate aid, or he does not wear high boots when walking through an area where snakes are known to be. Most of the time a person becomes very, very sick when the venom from the snake gets into the blood streem.
So, use caution when you hear a baby rattle, it could be a rattlesnake's warning!
