We found this lovely creature on our walk today. A rattlesnake's rattle is made up of specialized scales called buttons. What can you learn by counting the buttons in a rattlesnake's rattle?
Answer:
Each time a rattlesnake sheds its skin, another button is added to its rattle. As long as none of the buttons have been lost, counting the number of buttons will tell you how many times the snake has shed its skin. How often a snake sheds depends on how fast it is growing, so the number of buttons is not an indication of its age. A young, well fed snake may be larger and have more buttons than an older, underfed snake.
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