SILVER CITY – Western New Mexico University Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolution Caleb Loughran, Ph.D., has published extensive findings decoding the survival and social behaviors of rattlesnakes in Central and Eastern Washington State.
His research, conducted primarily in the rugged shrub-steppe landscapes of the Columbia Basin in the Pacific Northwest, provides a detailed look at how environmental temperatures and communal social structures influence the lives of Northern Pacific rattlesnakes.
Loughran’s research shows that body size plays a critical role in a rattlesnake’s daily activity and survival. Juvenile snakes heat up and cool down much faster than adults because their outer skin area is larger compared to their body mass. As a result, younger snakes face a much greater risk of overheating during sudden temperature changes.
Eastern Washington’s climate can bring dramatic swings between dawn and dusk, forcing the snakes to operate within narrow safety windows. Loughran’s thermal modeling shows adult snakes can use their larger body mass to buffer against sudden spikes in solar radiation, while younger snakes can overheat lethally in just minutes. That forces juvenile rattlesnakes to carefully adjust where they hide and when they hunt.
Loughran’s work also challenges the belief that rattlesnakes are strictly solitary except during winter hibernation. His field observations documented the consistent use of communal shedding sites, known as “shed rocks,” where dozens of snakes gather to shed their skin.
These sites are not random. Loughran said the snakes return to them year after year, a behavior known as site fidelity. He said that points toward a more complex social organization than previously understood in herpetology, the study of reptiles and amphibians.
Loughran has also conducted research on lizard heat-stress physiology during his time at the University of New Mexico. His work included studying how lizards use panting as a thermoregulatory tool and how evaporative cooling can affect a species’ climate risk.
He is also working with colleagues on a project investigating the effects of solar farms on wildlife microclimates and recently co-authored a review paper published in the journal Biological Reviews.
Loughran has applied for a grant to study how climate change affects local snake populations in the Gila region. He views his work in the Pacific Northwest as a foundation for future local projects involving WNMU students.
He is also in contact with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and hopes his findings may eventually help inform conservation strategies.
For more information about the Department of Natural Sciences at Western New Mexico University or Loughran’s projects, visit wnmu.edu.