Help Cal Poly Students Study Rattlesnakes with a Live-streaming Camera

A team of students and a faculty member from the Cal Poly Biological Sciences and Animal Science departments are joining forces to study rattlesnakes at a “mega-den” with hundreds of rattlesnakes.  

We are raising the funds required to install a live-streaming camera so that we can study their behavior from afar without disturbing them. Another goal of this project is to spread awareness and interest in rattlesnakes, answer questions about rattlesnake behaviors, and educate the public about these fascinating animals, all of which will be accomplished by live-chatting with viewers as footage is streamed live via YouTube. 

Our hope is that, by live-streaming footage of rattlesnakes in their natural habitat, people viewing the live-stream in schools, museums, zoos, and online, will see rattlesnakes for the docile and ecologically important animals that they really are! 

At the same time, our students are gaining real-world Learn by Doing experience! 

For the past two summers, students have been studying rattlesnakes with a live-streaming camera placed at a small, local den. We now plan to expand this project by installing a camera at a den with up to 2000 rattlesnakes! 

This project offers a wonderful opportunity for Cal Poly students, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, to be involved with important research. Specifically, Cal Poly students will operate the camera remotely, interact with viewers on the Project RattleCam YouTube channel during the live stream, collect data from the live stream, and work with teachers to create educational materials for their students to use while viewing the live-stream in the classroom.

Thank you for helping us fund this important research and supporting students!