Quick and Easy changes to your bathroomScientists have used tiny, noninvasive radio transmitters and accelerometers to study the habitats and behaviors of red diamond rattlesnakes.
Monitoring and keeping track of snakes is a cumbersome task. Jeff Lemm knows the inefficiencies all too well. The herpetologist has been studying red diamond rattlesnakes for years. In the early 2000s, he radio-tagged a few of the pit vipers in a bid to trace their movements. Since snakes don’t have appendages, the telemetry radios had to be surgically implanted, giving rise to time-consuming challenges.
Red-diamond rattlesnakes are a large and venomous species native to southwest California in the U.S. and Baja California in Mexico. As predators, they play a vital role in the ecosystem by keeping rodent populations in check. AClassified as a “species of special concern” in the state of California, red diamond rattlesnakes have faced increasing threats from habitat loss as well as from being struck by vehicles when attempting to cross roads.
The radio transmitters keep them informed about each snake’s location so they can find it at a later stage. By doing so periodically, they can also build up a map that helps them better understand the animal’s home range. They also measure the snake’s body temperature using an infrared thermometer, and document key details such as the height and species of vegetation in the region, ground temperature, air temperature, humidity and barometric pressure.