No Rattle?

[gatt40]

I've been hearing stories about encounters w/ rattlesnakes lately from guys working in oilfields and they say that a majority of the snakes aren't rattling. They claim this is due to snakes adapting to the wild pig population. Anyone on the GS experience this or heard similiar stories? Makes me want to wear my snakeboots.

[1TexasPatriot]

I've heard it twice on this forum alone.

Someone needs to tell them the rattle is for us...NOT them

[k9trainer]

this is debated every year. Long before a pig hears that rattle you can bet it has smelled that snake. I don't think there's any truth to it but there are some folks that do.

[M16]

I don't think there is any truth to it. A rattlesnake rattles when it is mad. They prefer to slip away without being noticed.

[hrdwrkncwby76]

I doubt this is true. How can someone or something pass on information when they are dead and eaten?

[txfireguy2003]

I don't know about pigs, BUT, I've heard a theory that WE are causing them to evolve into no-rattle snakes. The theory, and it's just that, a theory, is that humans by and large will kill every rattler we find. Snakes that rattle on a whim are easier to find, so they get killed faster than snakes that don't rattle so much. According to the theory, the no-rattle snakes live longer, breed more, and have more offspring which carry the no-rattle genetic. This theory centers, however, on the idea that behavior has, at least, a genetic component, which may or may not be true, it's yet to be proven one way or another in my mind. The theory seems plausible though, if snakes are, in fact, genetically predisposed to either use their rattle more or less. It only makes sense that the ones who don't rattle as much would not be spotted and live longer, maybe it's OUR fault.

[gatorgar]

I agree with fireguy. Just like some pheasant run and others flush or some dogs growl and other bite. Everything is passed down and if we kill all the RATTLERS only the silent ones will breed.

[billfromtx]

Last year my buddy stood in one spot for several minutes picking tomoatoes out of his garden before the Rattler bit him on the leg...It didnt rattle untill AFTER it bit him! He spent 4 days in the hospital after that!

[Speedgoat]

this is debated every year. Long before a pig hears that rattle you can bet it has smelled that snake. I don't think there's any truth to it but there are some folks that do.

This^ I believe it, so it must be true.

[gatt40]

Like Fireguy, I think it is a genetic thing. What I heard as to pig population was that they eat rattlers and those that rattle are eaten first. So, maybe rattlers are evolving into non-rattling creatures in order to preserve the species.

[JWHunt]

I think the ones that witness there friends get eaten by the pigs are telling the other ones at the next snake meeting to be aware and not to rattle. or maybe they send out a memo in some kind of secret snake language Because if the pig eats the one that rattles he or she does not live to tell his buddies.

This time of year they can't even feel your heat because of the wind. and then like my dad said. they don't have to rattle to bite you. I don't think they have evolved in the last 25 years they are not that smart. they are the same as they have always been.
god made them rattle to warn heavy hoofed animals not to step on them like the buffalo and cows and deer and so on.

Jim Hunt

[Geezy Rider]

I have been hunting rattlers for about 40 years and handling them in the pits for thirty. They have always been inclined to only rattle when they feel threatened. Younger snakes tend to be more fearful and may rattle quicker and older snakes just want to get away. This is how it's always been. Nothing new and definitely not evolution.

[chief262]

Ever heard, "survival of the fittest"? Kinda applies.

[joey1656]

the rumor i heard was that some rattlers do not have rattles at all. those live longer to pass on the gene that does not produce a rattle on the end of the tail.

i have no clue about any of this.

[SB09]

I've never heard one rattle before I messed with it. Maybe it's because all the snakes I've encountered so far I have seen them before I was too close to them.

I don't think it's specifically because the wild hogs. I think it because, like M16 said, the snake would rather remain undetected until they know there is a threat.