Snake rattle

Duvall, D. (1986). Snake, rattle and roll. Natural History 95,66-73. 

Crotalus venom Rattle snake Blood/nervous system... 

Finely chop the glands with a razor blade or pulverize in a blender. Extract the adrenalin into a small excess of hot H2O concentrate in a vacuum. Remove the salts and proteins (if proteins are not removed, they will give the same effect as blood poisoning from a rattle snake bite, but worse) by precipitating with alcohol and remove this precipitate by filtration. The filtrate is then distilled in vacuo to remove the adrenalin (1 would perform the filtration above, at room temp). Add a little ammonia to precipitate the active compound and filter from the water. The amount of ammonia depends on the amount of substance. To experiment, to get the proper amount, add a very little amount of ammonia to the distillate and filter off any precipitate if any forms. Add a little more ammonia and filter. Repeat until no more precipitate is formed, remember the amount of ammonia used and use this amount on the same amount of filtrate during the extraction of the next batch. 

Snakes seem to inspire either awe or fear. They hiss, they slither, they rattle, they don t hlink, they shed their skin and do dozens of other things that are disturhing to see. A few species can puff themselves up and others can play dead. Some have horns or odd protrusions and worst of all, their venom can cause severe pain or death within minutes when sprayed or injected through their needle-sharp fangs. For many of us, this one attrihute alone is the stuff of nightmares. 

Rattlers get a new rattle segment each time the snake sheds its skin which is normally about 3 to 4 times per year. Hatchling rattlesnakes are born with only one segment on their rattle called a button. This brand new rattle is noiseless until the hatchling rattler sheds its skin for the first time and adds a segment to the button. The rattle makes noise when segments click against each other. 

The highest L-amino acid oxidase activity is found in the venoms of a variety of snakes, the enzyme being present to the extent of up to 3% of dried, whole venom in some species. Crystalline enzymes (both flavoproteins) have been isolated from the venoms of water moccasin Ancistrodonpiscivorus) and rattle snake Crotalus adamanteus) and shown to be similar with respect to molecular weight (130,000) and flavin content (2 moles FAD/mole protein). The enzymes are not substrate-specific but are more active with the L-isomers of methionine, leucine, tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine than with other L-amino acids. The reactions catalysed by L-amino acid oxidase are formally the same as those discussed in section V.A (reactions 23-26) but, as is the case for the D-amino acid oxidase, the mechanism of... 

Copperhead A is odon contorH d 0.6-1.2 Distirx tive coppery color, tail vibrates wh snake is alanned but lacks "rattles Massachusetts to Florida, we ward to Texas and northward to Mteouri dky, rocky areas and margins between forests and open fields... 

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