Rattlesnake

The Rattlesnake is an animal found in Red Dead Redemption.

Description
They are a common venomous snake renowned for the rattles on their tails, which alert nearby animals of their presence and agitation. They are found throughout the American West. Their natural habitat ranges from hot arid plains to cool mountain outcrops. Per Rockstar's poster (see image gallery, below), they can range from 3' 5" to 8' in length and weigh up to 20 pounds.

In Red Dead Redemption, rattlesnakes can be hunted and skinned for snake skin that can later be sold to merchants for cash. In-game, they are very deadly. One bite will temporarily stagger the player, a second bite will bring their health dangerously low and can sometimes be fatal, and a third bite is generally fatal.

Rattlesnakes often blend in with their surroundings and can be difficult to spot. If the player is on horseback near a rattlesnake, the horse will quickly pull up and whinny, giving the player some warning.

When approached on foot, rattlesnakes will start making hissing or rattling noises until the threat backs away. This can be used to effectively track one down and kill it.

Challenges
The player needs to kill and skin eight rattlesnakes in order to get the Expert Hunter Outfit, which can be downloaded with the Hunting and Trading Outfits Pack.

Locations

 * Sidewinder Gulch- West of Tesoro Azul and southeast if Escalera.
 * They are often found in the bushes, hidden from sight, in both Nuevo Paraíso and New Austin.
 * Solomon's Folly has a disproportionate amount of rattlesnakes for its small size, especially at night. At least one spawns in the barn. Others spawn by buildings and on the road.
 * Found in the Great Plains region, just to the west of Blackwater and northwest of Broken Tree during the day.
 * In the Great Plains region along the cliffs. Where there is a gap leading down to the river, snakes spawn on both sides of this gap, go left along the cliffs and go around the tree and back to the gap to find more snakes. The player may have luck around camps too, up to three may spawn near them.
 * In Hennigan's Stead, west of MacFarlane's Ranch in the fields just above the Coyote symbol on the map.
 * They are often found in cemeteries, Sepulcro has many of them and the Blackwater cemetery has a few.
 * Some can be found in Torquemada, usually around the cliffsides. This is extremely dangerous, as the player might ragdoll over the cliff.
 * El Matadero has lots of snakes.
 * They can be found all around Warthington Ranch. There is a group of six rocks north-east of the building to the east in the ranch. Around this group, there are a few snakes spawning all the time during the day.
 * Rarely found in The Hanging Rock.
 * A lot of snakes can be found around Wreck of the Serendipity.
 * A few can be found around Thieves' Landing.
 * Rattlesnakes can often be found within the abandoned encampment at Riley's Charge.
 * A lot of them can be found around Odd Fellow's Rest. Look under the M of Ridgewood Farm in the day for best results.
 * They are also found actively spawning in Mexico, by the road right above the Diez Coronas logo on the map.
 * Snakes spawn frequently at night just south of Escalera.
 * Multiple snakes spawn in small numbers in the bushes east of Coot's Chapel.
 * Spawning at random, small numbers of snakes can be found between the far southern border (along the cliff wall) of Sidewinder Gulch and Plata Grande.
 * Around Pleasance House.You will be able to find them near the house. Once you find one, go back to the cabin and sleep. When you wake up there will be another either in exactly the same place or somewhere near there. Repeat as many times as needed.
 * Rattlesnakes are often found in gang hideouts. Pike's Basin has lots of them (for best results, look around a campsite and corral in the eastern part of the canyon). They also spawn frequently inside Fort Mercer.
 * Some have also been found in Twin Rocks.
 * Snakes also spawn in Barranca (southwest of Chuparosa).
 * Open your map and zoom all the way in. Northwest of Ridgewood Farm (a bit east of the railroad) you should be able to locate an abandoned wagon circle that's depicted by four small black dots, one on the left and three on the right. A rattlesnake spawns here. Once it is killed the player can run about two seconds in any direction away from the circle and return to cause a respawn.

Offensive Uses

 * If an NPC is near one, they may be pushed towards it, where they will be killed instantly.

Trivia

 * The game's soundtrack includes an atmospheric rattlesnake sound which does not indicate the presence of a rattlesnake. It is important to learn the difference between this and the actual rattlesnake sound while travelling; a real snake's sound will increase and decrease in volume as the player moves around relative to the snake's location, while the atmospheric sound simply happens at a fixed volume and then stops.
 * Although Rattlesnakes are found in the northern territories, in Red Dead Redemption, they keep their brown and tan coloration. Their real life counterparts are almost all black in the colder territories to absorb more heat from sun light.
 * Due to their small size compared to the rest of the animals and world, rattlesnakes don't need detailed animations and modeling. Therefore, rattlesnakes in the game appear slightly boxy when zoomed in on, and their animations are very simple.
 * Though the game states the snakes are venomous, there is no mechanic to simulate poison or continuing damage; snakes simply deal normal damage.
 * While rattlesnakes are more common during the day, they will still be found in some areas at night.
 * The player can push a snake into a town and it will kill people as they walk by, however the snakes can be killed by lawmen.
 * While rattlesnakes die in a single hit from any weapon, they are treated as large animals for purposes of being obliterated; nothing short of the Explosive Rifle will destroy a snake, even the Rolling Block Rifle, Carcano Rifle and Buffalo Rifle will leave a skinnable carcass.