14-05-2025
Watch hundreds of rattlesnakes in Colorado 'mega den' emerge from hibernation
A "mega den" of rattlesnakes are ready for their day in the sun.
Some snakes have started to emerge from their winter hibernation to bask in the spring sun on the rocky hillside they call home. Like last year, they'll do it for the world to see as their movements are streamed live on Project RattleCam — a collaborative project between scientists from California Polytechnic State University, Central Coast Snake Services and Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.
The den is located on undisclosed private property in Colorado, where hundreds of rattlesnakes are expected to emerge in May, according to Owen Bachhuber, a California Polytechnic State University graduate student who helps run Project RattleCam.
The location of the site is intentionally kept secret for the protection of the snakes, Bacchhuber said.
The project's Colorado livestream started in 2024, bringing in 2.5 million views that year. At the height of its media coverage in the summer of 2024, the stream had more than 180,000 viewers in one day, according to Bacchuber.
Another rattlecam live stream is set up in California, though that one is "hibernating," according to the site. The Cal Poly researchers installed the first RattleCam along the central coast of California in summer 2021. That cam was up and running each summer since and was switched back on last year in July.
As spring turns to summer, viewers can expect to see pregnant female rattlesnakes stay in the Colorado mega den as they prepare to give birth. Last year, however, researchers were surprised to see a few males — including one viewers named Thor — sticking around the den in the summer, Bachhuber said.
The project is studying the social dynamics of the snakes by tracking individuals from their scale patterns, "which are as unique as a human fingerprint," Bachhuber said. Viewers can help by taking part in Project RattleCam's 'Name a Snake' community science contest, which gets viewers to name and track snakes on the livestream. So far, nearly two dozen of the den's rattlesnakes have been identified and named, according to the project's website.
Project RattleCam also seeks to raise awareness about rattlesnakes and their importance in the ecosystem, per its website.
Yes, there's two of them. Go to and you'll see the Colorado feed. You can also click and be sent to a live feed on YouTube:
The Colorado Rattlecam Livestream of a Prairie Rattlesnake rookery runs 24-7 from May to October.
Coming later: The California Rattlesnake Rookery Livestream, which ran last year 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day from July through October.
Contributing: Mike Snider, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: See rattlesnakes in 'mega den' emerge from hibernation on RattleCam
