Rattlesnake Dissection

     Today we went to the Science Center to learn about rattlesnakes. Not only did we learn about rattlesnakes, but we dissected one. Our first activity was watching videos on how snakes move and a video on how snakes swallow such large animals. Snakes move with their thin muscles. It’s too bad they do not have arms and legs like people, but they still tend to move quickly! Our second activity was looking at a garter snake and a rattlesnake. There were four snakes on the cardboard: two garter snakes, and two rattlesnakes. Two of the four were cut open and flipped upside down. The instructor was using comparative anatomy to show the differences and similarities between the two snakes. Finally, it was time to dissect a rattlesnake. We received a very extensive and large snake. It was a male, so we checked the reproductive organs to see if it had a sperm. We started off by pinning the scaly, cut skin back, so it would not be in our way when we took out the insides. After Samantha and I finished pinning out the skin, we took out all the organs. We had a slippery time at the Science Center.