Show I 1 losing loing its it rattle contrary to the popular belief you 1 cannot always tell a rat rattlesnakes tle snakes age by the number of joints on its rattle this reptile 1 Is born with nothing nothing more than a horny nob at the end of 0 its tall i but after three days it sheds its skin and a joint Is added to the nob the skin shedding process Is repeated several times a year and with each succeeding molt another bony ring Is added until it has accumulated four or five joints the rattlesnake cannot make I 1 more than EL a faint rustling sound but as the number of joints increases it Is able to express annoyance by rapidly vibrating its tall producing a shrill I 1 rattle which may be heard 20 yards away when the number of joints exceeds seven they generally begin to break off so that when an elderly rattlesnake tle snake loses its temper it also loses part of its rattle tit bits magazine Magaz lna |