Project RattleCam

1. I don't see any snakes in the image. Is that normal?

It is totally normal for some images to have no snakes. That is because they often hide in the rock crevice when it's really hot or cold outside. But give each image a careful look, because sometimes there might be a snake in the far background or with just a loop of its coil sticking out of the crevice, as shown by the red arrow in this image.

2. What is that thing that looks like a pipe?

In some images you might see a pipe painted like a rattlesnake, or in some cases just the end of the pipe. You should ignore these. If you're curious, these are operative temperature models that act as snake models to give data on what temperature a snake might be if it stayed in that habitat.

3. Is this a snake? It appears in many images and I'm not sure.

This is not a snake. The items marked by the two red arrows are shed skins of rattlesnakes. Please ignore shed skins and do not count them as snakes.

4. I see a big pile of snakes but I'm not sure exactly how many there are. How should I answer the question about how many snakes I see?

It can be challenging to count snakes when there are many entwined together. Try to count the heads and enter your best guess in the answer box (it's okay if it's not exactly right). Here's an example:

How many did you count?

We counted 13!

5. Why do some of the rattlesnakes have colored rattles?

We captured, measured, and marked some of the snakes prior to the study so that we could keep track of what individual snakes are doing. Those snakes have unique, 3-color codes on their rattles, achieved by injecting the rattle with acrylic paint. If you see a colored rattle, please follow the prompts to enter the colors for us. This example is red (proximal rattle), yellow (middle rattle), green (distal rattle). (The Field Guide has more info on the colors we used.)

6. I see an animal in the image but I'm not sure what it is. What should I do?

Our Field Guide tells how to distinguish between adult and baby rattlesnakes, and shows images of most birds, mammals, and reptiles that might be caught on camera. You can access the Field Guide at any time by clicking the tab on the right.

7. The final question asks me to report the temperature in degrees Celsius. Where do I find that?

The temperature can usually be found in the top left of the image, as indicated by the red arrow here. In some images, the temperature might be at the bottom, but it will always be in the black border around the image.

8. I'm a teacher and am considering assigning this project to my students. Is that appropriate and are there any resources?

We would love you to assign this project to your students! We think it is most appropriate for high school or university students, or advanced younger students. Please let them know that this is real science, so they should take it seriously! When introducing the project to your students, we encourage you to show them the snazzy introductory movie and the tutorial movie, which you can find in the project's About tab.

9. I have a question, and I can't find the answer in the Tutorial or Field Guide. What should I do?

You should post your question in the Project RattleCam Discussion Board. A fellow community scientist or project expert will respond shortly. You can also message the scientists on social media @ RattleCams.

10. Can't you just use machine learning to identify snakes in the images?

Machine learning is becoming very popular as a way of identifying items of interest in images, including wildlife in game camera footage. However, given the way that rattlesnakes entwine together at their dens and rookeries, it is very difficult to tell where one snake ends and another begins! We are working with computer scientists to determine if we can eventually identify and count snakes from these images, but for now we rely on your help to find snakes in the photos.

Thank you for helping us understand the complex social behaviors of rattlesnakes!

Project RattleCam logo by Mike Essa.
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