While climate change may be driving many animals out of California, rattlesnakes are thriving because of it.
A new study from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo revealed that rising temperatures created by global warming have been largely beneficial to rattlesnakes, who have become one of the largest growing animal populations in the Golden State.
According to the study, rattlesnakes prefer their internal body temperature to be between 86 to 89 degrees. However, researchers found that the average body temperature for rattlesnakes on the California coast was 70 degrees and inland was 74 degrees.
Rattlesnakes are ecothermic, cold blooded, meaning they cannot regulate their own internal temperature like warm blooded animals. Instead, they are reliant on their surroundings to provide heat, which limits their activity during cold weather, the study said. As a result, increasingly warm temperatures throughout the state could nurture an environment more suited for the seven different species of the reptile found in California.
"We were surprised to see how much lower the body temperatures of wild snakes were relative to their preferred body temperatures in the lab," Hayley Crowell, a graduate student researcher and project lead, said in a release. "There are a lot of ecological pressures in nature that could prevent rattlesnakes from basking, such as the risk of increased exposure to predators. A warmer climate may help these snakes heat up to temperatures that are more optimal for digestion or reproduction."
Longer periods of warmer weather also allows rattlesnakes to spend more "active hours" during the day, giving them more time for them to hunt and feed, according to the study.
In addition, researchers speculated that even if climate change causes their prey population to decrease, snakes will be relatively unaffected because they don't need many calories to survive. Scientist discovered that adult male rattlesnakes need just 500 to 600 calories per year to survive, the equivalent of half of a large burrito. Humans, meanwhile, need 1,300 times more calories to survive.
An increase in the rattlesnake population could affect entire ecosystems, researchers said. The animals are a keystone predator for ground squirrels and are prey for raptors and many animals.
"We are so used to climate change studies that forecast negative impacts on wildlife — it was interesting to see such starkly different findings for these snakes," Crowell said.
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