TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
The invisible snakes are out and about. You might not know about these, even if you are native to Arizona.
We are talking about baby rattlesnakes.
Babies don't form their first segment of their rattle until one to two weeks old, after they have shed their skin for the first time. So, when they rattle their tail it doesn't make any noise. But their bite is just as deadly as the big ones.
"When they are born, they are born with a pre button. It's not enough to make a sound. They may wiggle it but it's not going to be audible. You can get yourself in trouble very quickly," Daniel Marchand with Phoenix Herpetological Society said.
The babies have just as much So, when they rattle their tail it doesn't make any noise. But their bite is just as deadly as the big ones.
"They are born with venom. The minute they come out of the mother, they are fully functioning venomous snakes. They have venom glands. They are ready to go," Marchand said.
The babies have just as much venom as adult rattlers but they can be more dangerous because they bite more than once and it feels more like a pinch instead of an actual bite. Also, they almost seem to blend in with the desert.
Flip through the slideshow above to see more dangerous creatures in Southern Arizona.
Copyright 2012 Tucson News Now and KSAZ. All rights reserved.
(Source: WPBN)
