Two Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes share an enclosure in a Philadelphia Zoo. One goes exploring while the other stays put. The explorer moves close to its motionless companion, then towards the camera, allowing us a close-up view of its eyes, head and tongue as it tests the air. Every scale is visible as it moves past the lens. Then we see the bold warning pattern of the black-and-white tail, topped with a rattle, as it moves away to explore the opposite end of the enclosure. As it edges up into some plants we see its full length, with the diamond pattern clear on its back. We’ve had a close-up snake encounter at the zoo.

A Western Diamondback Rattlesnake gracefully moves about a windy scene of dry vegetation, cacti and sand. Stretched out to its full length, it shows off its diamonds and black-and-white tail tip with brown rattle. It explores the landscape unhurriedly, unaware of the camera, going about its daily business. Finally, it retreats to the base of a tree where we zoom in on its half-coiled body and raised head, zooming in on its dark tongue flicking in and out to test the air. We see the white bands below its eyes and the white lines above. It settles and pulls its rattle in close, finally more aware of the camera.

We observe the typical behavior of a Sidewinder Rattlesnake in the wilds of the Sonoran Desert, with Judy Kennedy. With the fluid motion of water over rocks, it glides sideways over open terrain, placing consecutive S-shaped body undulations in a sidelong sequence that covers ground quickly and efficiently. We see threatening behavior, with the snake body pulled back into itself, head rearing up and rattle going. We see the snake stretch out in forward motion over terrain cluttered with twigs and branches, also stretching out while inspecting a hole during a hunt. The video gives extensive cover to the elegant movements of the Sidewinder, until it finally finds suitable vegetation for retreat.

Amongst many other creatures in the Florida Panhandle, we discover a Pygmy Rattlesnake with “Mike”. Close-up footage of this striking snake with its grey body and dark patches, showcases a species that is capable of lying perfectly still with body half coiled, ready for action. At times the snake jerks its raised head sideways whilst flicking its tongue; its slender, supple rattle flicks sideways back and forth. The rattle and the snake’s head move close together, then further apart, while the flick of the rattle is reminiscent of a dog wagging its tail. The snake finally beats a very hasty retreat towards safety behind a wall. Beautiful footage of a beautiful species.

A Western Rattlesnake, also known as the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, is recorded in the wild in California. A snake-handler picks up the small snake by its tail, all along supporting its body with a twig. Despite being toxic enough to cause death, the timid nature of this shy species is shown by this video. We learn that the heat-sensing pits on the nose of the snake can sense tiny differences in temperature, which allows the snake to hunt its prey – lizards and small rodents. The video gives us a close look at a docile snake species, which may go some way towards countering a few myths surrounding rattlesnakes.

Steve Irwin drops in on a Mojave Rattlesnake that he finds in the wild, under a rocky overhang at the base of a cliff. This amazing video shows the expert snake-handler picking up the young adult by its tail and lifting it off the ground, supporting its rear end. All along the snake tries to get back under its rock, seemingly showing no fear, and exhibiting no rattling behaviour. Once released and back in its retreat the snake assumes a typical S-shaped, half-coiled offensive position. A final close-up shows the rattler’s raised head positioned next to its rattle, with its tongue flitting in and out, ready to strike.

The cut base of a tree sets a peaceful scene in a yard, until a squirrel jumps onto the platform. It shows interest in something to the left, sniffing in that direction with its tail in the air. A Timber Rattlesnake lies motionless to the left of the trunk, waiting. It strikes like lightning, and the squirrel disappears into thin air. Slow motion and even slower-motion replays show the squirrel jumping vertically upwards and out of the shot altogether, as the snake strikes for its head. The momentum of the strike sends the snake lunging across the whole platform. All along a bird feeds in the background, unperturbed by all the action!

A few hikers find a Red Diamond Rattlesnake in the wild, on San Miguel Mountain. The video shows close footage of its stretched-out, reddish, patterned body, tipped with a striking black-and-white rattle. The snake raises its head and front-end off the ground, pulling back into an offensive S-shape, while flicking its tongue in and out. It alternates between stretched-out retreat and offensive, showing the latter behaviour repeatedly towards a person standing to the right of the camera. The last offensive shows the snake rearing the whole front third of its body off the ground, before retreating. This is a good record of typical Red Diamond Rattler behaviour.

This video showcases the snake-handling skills of Steve Scuggs at an exhibition. An Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake is picked out of a wooden box with a snake hook, lifted by its tail using Steve’s hand, and completely lifted off the ground. Pointing away from him, it is shown to the audience, lifted above head height, with the back half of its body supported. We hear its rattle above the ooh’s, aah’s and squeals of bystanders. Steve returns it to the box, front end first; it tries to get out, then he puts it back in, dropping the tail in last. One last touch… before the box lid closes on an amazing show.