Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Serpents of the Badlands

BADLANDS, N.D. — Tchk-tchk-tchktchk

I stop dead in my tracks. Despite the howling prairie winds, that unmistakable sound cuts through the bluster and into my ears. My eyes search the ground, scanning through the prairie grasses, yucca, scoria and prickly pear. Nothing.

Counter to instincts, I take a step toward a clump of vegetation where I think the sound came from.

Tchk-tchk-tchk                                                             

I’m closer, but still can’t put my eyes on the origin of the all-too-familiar sound. Two more steps.

Tchk-tchk-tchchchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

A small male prairie rattlesnake coils defensively and flicks its tongue to assess the threat.

A small male prairie rattlesnake coils defensively and flicks its tongue to assess the threat.

Too close! In a tuft of buffalo grass, I see a small prairie rattlesnake coil up and buzz, poised to strike at me if I get one centimeter closer. His yellow stripes, dark brown blotches and drab green base-color render him nearly invisible in the brown, green and yellow prairie.

I carefully survey the scene, making sure there are no other serpents silently soaking up the autumn sun nearby. Once I’m sure he’s the only one, I pick him up with my snake tongs and place him gently into a bucket. I look for a stable, level and sheltered piece of prairie where I can safely collect data on the snake.

The colors of this yellow-bellied racer mimic those of a young prairie rattlesnake.

The colors of this yellow-bellied racer mimic those of a young prairie rattlesnake.

I’m in the Badlands of North Dakota with my colleagues, professor Matt Smith of North Dakota State University and Stephanie Tucker of North Dakota Game and Fish. We are surveying prairie rattlesnakes for a collaborative research project. Today, we are visiting a traditional snake hibernaculum – a rock outcrop on a butte in which generations of snakes have come to spend their winters, deep beneath the frigid North Dakota surface.

I coax the angry little snake into a clear plastic snake tube so that we can collect important life history data and draw its blood. This will allow us to conduct genetic analyses on the Badlands snakes. With the business end of the snake safely secured, my colleagues and I set to work.

When confronted with danger, some rattlesnakes tuck their heads under their coils and wait for the threat to pass.

When confronted with danger, some rattlesnakes tuck their heads under their coils and wait for the threat to pass.

We measure, count, probe and needle the snake, jotting down all kinds of information. I know the data will help us learn about how these snakes came to exist in the Badlands and understand what challenges they face in a rapidly changing world. I hope the information we gather today will help this important component of the Badlands ecosystem to persist into the future.

Once we’re done, I return the feisty little snake to its original patch of prairie. He quickly coils and raises up defiantly, rattling loudly, poised to strike, all while slowly backing away until he can find asylum in a safe mammal burrow or rock crevice.

This afternoon, we catch four more large adult rattlesnakes and two baby rattlers. We also find hatchling yellow-bellied racers and a massive, angry bullsnake. She behaves just like a rattlesnake to try and fool me into leaving her lie.

As I walk out of the rolling prairie, I can’t help but wonder when I’ll be back to visit these incredible animals and hear that all-too-familiar sound. Then, just meters from the truck, I hear it again…

Tchk-tchk-tchktchk

Editor’s note:

Subscribe to Behind the Scenes for short blog posts, photos and videos from Illinois faculty, researchers, students and staff about their work and lives. Send an email with “SUBSCRIBE BTS” in the subject line.

Read Next

Life sciences Portrait of the research team posing together.

Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to explore, build and manipulate structures in three dimensions. The innovation will allow researchers and students of all ages to navigate […]

Arts Photo of seven dancers onstage wearing blue tops and orange or yellow flowing skirts. The backdrop is a Persian design.

February Dance includes works experimenting with live music, technology and a ‘sneaker ballet’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The dance department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will present February Dance 2025: Fast Forward this week at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. February Dance will be one of the first performances in the newly renovated Colwell Playhouse Theatre since its reopening. The performances are Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Dance professor […]

Honors portraits of four Illinois researchers

Four Illinois researchers receive Presidential Early Career Award

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. The winners this year are health and kinesiology professor Marni Boppart, physics professor Barry Bradlyn, chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Ying […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010