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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Bill Chambers

Prairie Rattlesnake

Crotalus viridis viridis

Physical Characteristics

  • The head, body and tail are a greenish-gray to brown with dark brown blotches on the back. The belly is grayish-white. The tail has a rattle.
  • Size of average adult is 35 - 45 inches long.

Diet

  • Wild: rats, mice, gophers and young prairie dogs

Behavior

  • Retreats to small mammal burrows during hot daytime temperatures and during cold winter temperatures
  • Active during the day from April to October
  • Aggressive
  • Reproduction
    • mate in early spring
    • produce litters every other year
    • live birth averaging 11 in number
    • young are venomous at birth

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: rocky canyons or open prairie with an abundance of small burrows
  • Distribution: western United States

Conservation Efforts

  • Sedgwick County Zoo opposes rattlesnake roundups and has led a petition drive to ask state legislators to ban these events
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