Have you ever learned something that you never even wondered about? I did when I discovered why a rattlesnake's tail rattles. Now, I'm gonna inflict this knowledge on you.

Just about every time I mention my dislike of rattlesnakes, I get lectures from people talking about how vital they are to our ecosystem, blah, blah and blah. I don't mean to offend those folks, but I'm not a fan. I suppose that's why I've never researched why their tails rattle...until now.

This very well done video was recently shared to YouTube and came up in my feed. It goes into great detail about the makeup of the rattlesnake tail. Here's the nuts and bolts of what they said:

The rattlesnake’s rattle is made up of loosely interlocking segments made of keratin, the same strong fibrous protein in your fingernails.

I must now confess that I actually tried to make my fingernails rattle like the snake does. Sadly it didn't work.

One more thing to mention. The person narrating the video says that "the rattlesnake doesn't want to bite". I have to ask how do they know? Have they interviewed rattlesnakes and this is the most popular answer? Now, THAT is something I really would like to learn. Science.

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