WESTERN DIAMOND-BACKED RATTLESNAKE

CHARACTERISTICS: It is more than two metres long, which makes it one of the largest snakes on the North American subcontinent. It is corpulent and heavy. In its mouth it has a forked tongue. Its back is decorated with diamond patterns. Its body ends in a rattle made up of segments which are added with each shedding. Younger specimens do not have a rattle. Some of them can reach up to 2,5 metres in length and weigh up to 4,5 Kg.
DIET: They feed on birds, lizards and mammals.
REPRODUCTION: The young take 3 or 4 years to mature sexually. These snakes are ovoviviparous.
CURIOSITIES: It is a pacific snake, but if provoked it can bite and inject extremely toxic venom, although first it gives a warning with the sound of its rattle. It causes many human deaths a year, making it the most dangerous North American snake. The venom destroys the red blood cells and makes the blood vessels penetrable. It thereby affects the body tissue and the circulation.