Daily and seasonal activity patterns of free range South-American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus)

Abstract

This study aimed at describing daily and seasonal variation in the activity of a population of SouthAmerican rattlesnakes (Crotalus durissus) in a savanna like habitat (Cerrado) in Southeastern Brazil. Seasonal and daily activities of snakes were evaluated by the number of captures of snakes during road surveys, accidental encounters, and relocations by radio-tracking. Our results show that climatic variables such as air temperature and rainfall have little influence on the activity pattern of rattlesnakes. Our findings indicate that rattlesnakes spend most of the day resting and most of the night in ambush posture. The South-American rattlesnake is active throughout the year with a discrete peak in activity of males during the matting season. The possibility of maintaining activity levels even during the coldest and driest season can facilitate the colonization of several habitats in South America. This possibility currently facilitates the colonization of deforested areas by rattlesnakes.

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“…data). This peak in activity period has been observed in other Neotropical pitvipers (Sazima 1988;Oliveira and Martins 2001;Tozetti and Martins 2013) and appears to be correlated with higher environmental and body temperatures during the early nighttime hours when snakes are searching for a spot from which to either ambush prey or avoid becoming prey (Gibbons and Semlitsch 1987;Bonnet et al 1999). Males usually are the first to become active early at night and the last to rest.…”

Composition and natural history notes of the coastal snake assemblage from Northern Bahia, Brazil

“…We observed a specimen crossing a road at 20:00 h while others were found on soil and leaf litter. This species is terrestrial and nocturnal, inhabiting open habitats and feeding on rodents (Vanzolini et al 1980, Graça Salomão et al 1995, Tozetti and Martins 2013). When handled the squirting of cloacal discharge can reach 1.5 m and if threatened, they coil their body and vibrate the tail and rattle.…”

Composition and natural history of the snakes from the Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio, southern Minas Gerais, Serra da Mantiqueira, Brazil

“…It was moving from the edge of a small forested area, towards an open field. Diurnal habits of this species have been described in reports by Sawaya et al (2008) and Tozetti and Martins (2013) as well. No information of diet or reproduction was obtained from the specimen we observed.…”