What do Crotalus Cerastes eat?
Sidewinders fed primarily on lizards and slightly less frequently on mammals; birds and snakes were rarely consumed. The vast majority of C. cerastes consumed single prey items ingested head-first. Juvenile and adult female Sidewinders consumed lizards and mammals with similar frequency.
What do sidewinder rattlesnakes eat?
In the wild, sidewinders eat almost exclusively rodents and lizards, with kangaroo rats, whiptail lizards, and fringe-toed lizards being favorite prey. At the Zoo, they do fine on a steady diet of mice.
How do sidewinders survive in the desert?
As a protection against the blowing sand, the sidewinder snake has a protective scale above each of its eyes. The snakes is able to fold the scales down over its eyes when it burrows into the sand, thus providing an additional measure of protection from the sandy environment that sidewinder snake inhabits.
Do sidewinders drink water?
Like Water off a Snake’s Back In 2006, Jim Rorabaugh of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service observed sidewinders (Crotalus cerastes) flattening their bodies in a light rain in order to collect rainwater, which they drank.
What are snake adaptations?
A snake’s main adaptation is its very form. With no legs, arms, ears and other appendages, it can slither through grass or among rocks without causing disturbance that might frighten prey. It can enter narrow holes in the ground made by rodents, find those rodents and eat them.
Are sidewinder snakes aggressive?
The sidewinder rattlesnake is indigenous to desert regions across southeastern California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, western Arizona and northwestern Mexico. Sidewinder rattlesnakes are venomous, but of little threat to humans, except for young children.
Is sidewinder rattlesnake endangered?
Least Concern (Population stable)
Sidewinder/Conservation status
Can sidewinders move normally?
The sidewinder rattlesnake moves efficiently across sand without slipping by pushing on the ground with parts of its body and lifting the rest sideways. The sidewinder rattlesnake is a venomous snake that lives in deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
Why do sidewinders have horns?
The sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes) is a rattlesnake. This pit viper (subfamily Crotalinae) has small horns above each eye, possibly to keep sand from covering the eyes when the snake is buried.
Do Sidewinders have rattles?
Sidewinders are distinguished among rattlesnakes by their horn-like superocular scales on their heads. This hornlike structure is why sidewinders are also called horned rattlesnakes. They also have a rattle on their tails; the number of segments of the rattle equates to the number of sheds the individual has completed.
Why do sidewinder snakes move sideways?
But instead of sliding straight ahead along the ground, the sidewinder sets only parts of its body on the loose sand while the rest of its body lifts up and moves sideways. This appears to help the snake get a firm hold on the sand and travel quickly while limiting total contact time with the hot and unstable sand.