Watch hundreds of rattlesnakes in a 'mega-den' from the safety of your computer

A new live-streaming webcam allows viewers to see inside a so-called "mega-den" - home to hundreds of rattlesnakes.

The live stream, which is available to view on RattleCam.org, is run by researchers from California Polytechnic State University, according to a statement from the university, published Monday.

Situated in an undisclosed location on private land in Colorado, the den attracts rattlesnakes because it allows them to hide and shelter them from the elements.

Viewers can expect to see dozens of pregnant rattlesnakes basking and interacting as they wait to give birth later this summer.

Lucky visitors to the website may also see rare events like predators attempting to attack the rattlesnakes, and thirsty snakes drinking rainwater that has collected between their coiled bodies, the university said.

Morning and early evening are the best times to watch, it added.

"This livestream allows us to collect data on wild rattlesnakes without disturbing them, facilitating unbiased scientific discovery," Emily Taylor, project lead and a biological sciences professor at the university, said in the statement.

"But even more important is that members of the public can watch wild rattlesnakes behaving as they naturally do, helping to combat the biased imagery we see on television shows of rattling, defensive and stressed snakes interacting with people who are provoking them."

Taylor said pups will start to be born in August and will stay in the den with their mothers until the return of male snakes from summer hunting grounds in September.

The cameras will then be turned off while the snakes are hibernating over the winter, with the live stream set to resume next spring.

"We hope to eventually install cameras on snake aggregations (group gathering) all over the world to help us better understand the behaviors of these complex, social animals," Taylor added in the statement.

Rattlesnakes are venomous "pit vipers" with heat-detecting pits on their heads.

There are an estimated 33 rattlesnake species. They are adaptable, living in forests, grasslands, swamps and deserts across large swathes of the North and South America, from southern Canada to central Argentina.

But considering their range, deaths from rattlesnake bites are quite rare in the United States, in part due to their reclusive nature.

The rattlesnake "actually views us as a predator; we're a large animal that could eat him. And they're afraid of us," Ted Clamp, founder of the Edisto Island Serpentarium in South Carolina, told CNN in July 2022.

As a result, rattlesnakes tend to stay hidden.

"When we encounter a snake on the move, he's usually looking for food or looking for a mate or looking for shelter," said Clamp.

"Otherwise, he stays hidden because they're so vulnerable to all sorts of predators."