Wild mother rattlesnake seen huddling with newborn 'pups' on live cam leaves viewers stunned

A live wildlife camera in Colorado has given the internet a surprisingly tender look at one of nature's most misunderstood animals, showing a mother rattlesnake huddling with her newborn young.

The clip left thousands of Reddit users stunned — and, for many, unexpectedly charmed.

A post shared in the r/snakes community was titled, "A mother and some of the recently born pups scooching together (RattleCam)," and it received nearly 6,000 upvotes after showing a prairie rattlesnake curled up with several tiny newborns.

The footage came from RattleCam, a round-the-clock Colorado livestream run by Project RattleCam at California Polytechnic State University.

The camera monitors a prairie rattlesnake mega-den near Garden of the Gods, offering viewers a rare window into wild snake behavior most people never see.

In the clip, the babies cluster close to their mother, appearing to "scooch" together in a tight bundle.

The original poster also shared links to higher-quality footage and another video showing "the birth of a pup," or a snakelet. Afterward, newborn snakes are seen slithering near their mom.

The clip challenges a common assumption that snakes do not care for their offspring.

Project RattleCam says mother rattlesnakes stay with their young for several weeks after giving birth and bunch up with them to keep warm.

A mother and some of the recently born pups scooching together (RattleCam)
byu/Snake_poster insnakes

(Click here if the embedded video does not appear.)

Commenters were amazed by what they saw.

"I had no idea mother rattlesnakes took care of their young!" one person wrote, while another called the scene a "forbidden cuddle puddle."

Others were fascinated by the science behind the behavior.

After one user joked, "Like ssssssssserotonin?" another replied that rattlesnakes produce mesotocin and vasotocin, hormones similar to oxytocin in non-mammals, and that blocking them can make the snakes worse mothers.

And even though venomous snakes can dangerous to encounter, their status as protective parents drew admiration.

"There's way more mothering in snakes than you'd think!" one Reddit user gushed.

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