Rattlesnake

The  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 range from hot arid plains until cool mountain outcrops.

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; usually the character can be bitten two times until his health is dangerously low. A third bite is, in most cases, deadly.

You need to kill and skin 8 rattlesnakes in order to get the Expert Hunter Outfit, which can be downloaded with the Hunting and Trading Outfits Pack.

It is also quite difficult to spot one, making it a dangerous enemy. But because they can't attack quickly after each strike, you can kill them fairly easily. They are well known for hiding under bushes and attacking at the most unexpected of times. If you are on horseback near a rattlesnake, your horse will quickly pull up and make noise, this is an effective warning mechanism.

When approached by 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.

Stats

 * Length: 3' 5 to 8'
 * Weight: Up to 20 lbs

Locations

 * They are often found in the bushes, hidden from sight, in Mexico and New Austin.
 * 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.
 * In Hennigan's Stead, west of MacFarlane's Ranch in the fields.
 * 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 might even appear near a doorway where you normally wouldn't expect it, so watch out. (They are quite hard to see so make sure you have your volume up and listen out).
 * 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.
 * If on horseback, one clue to a rattlesnake nearby will be your horse quickly backing up and/or rising up on hind legs and making a noise.
 * 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.
 * In and around Pike's Basin.
 * In and around Fort Mercer.

Offensive Uses

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

Trivia

 * 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.
 * The picture below states the Rattlesnakes have "lethal neurotoxic venom" (paralyzes prey and stops the heart) while real life Rattlesnakes actually have hemotoxic venom (either prevents any blood clotting or blood circulation).
 * Rattlesnakes are capable of knocking the player down.
 * 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.
 * Even though the game states rattlesnakes have venom, this venom is never actually used in the game; John will never be injected with venom.
 * Rattlesnakes are more common at night and because they have darkish skin and are quite thin they are hard to see, especially in tall grass and bushy areas. The easiest indicator of a snake's presence is the hissing or rattling.
 * Sometimes a rattlesnake will spawn inside a house, most commonly the El Matadero Safehouse and the Casa Madrugada Safehouse.
 * Two hits from a rattlesnake can kill the player although both shots have to be consistent in about 5 seconds to kill.
 * You can push a snake into a town and it will kill people as they walk by, however they can be killed by lawmen.
 * Unlike most small animals, snakes will not be obliterated by high-power rifles like the Bolt Action Rifle. No matter what you shoot them with, the carcass will remain. (Except the Explosive Rifle)