CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A “mega den” of hundreds of rattlesnakes in Colorado is getting even bigger now that late summer is here and babies are being born.

Thanks to livestream video, scientists studying the den on a craggy hillside in Colorado are learning more about these enigmatic — and often misunderstood — reptiles. They’re observing as the youngsters, called pups, slither over and between adult females on lichen-encrusted rocks.

The public can watch too on the Project RattleCam website and help with important work including how to tell the snakes apart. Since researchers put their remote camera online in May, several snakes have become known in a chatroom and to scientists by names including “Woodstock,” “Thea” and “Agent 008.”

The project is a collaboration between California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, snake removal company Central Coast Snake Services and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

By involving the public, the scientists hope to dispel the idea that rattlesnakes are usually fierce and dangerous. In fact, experts say they rarely bite unless threatened or provoked and often are just the opposite.

Rattlesnakes are not only among the few reptiles that care for their young. They even care for the young of others. The adults protect and lend body heat to pups from birth until they enter hibernation in mid-autumn, said Max Roberts, a CalPoly graduate student researcher.

“We regularly see what we like to call ‘babysitting,’ pregnant females that we can visibly see have not given birth, yet are kind of guarding the newborn snakes,” Roberts said Wednesday.

As many as 2,000 rattlesnakes spend the winter at the location on private land, which the researchers are keeping secret to discourage trespassers. Once the weather warms, only pregnant females remain while the others disperse to nearby territory.

This year, the scientists keeping watch over the Colorado site have observed the rattlesnakes coil up and catch water to drink from the cups formed by their bodies. They’ve also seen how the snakes react to birds swooping in to try to grab a scaly meal.

The highlight of summer is in late August and early September when the rattlesnakes give birth over a roughly two-week period.

“As soon as they’re born, they know how to move into the sun or into the shade to regulate their body temperature,” Roberts said.

There are 36 species of rattlesnakes, most of which inhabit the U.S. They range across nearly all states and are especially common in the Southwest. These being studied are prairie rattlesnakes, which can be found in much of the central and western U.S. and into Canada and Mexico.

Like other pit viper species but unlike most snakes, rattlesnakes don’t lay eggs. Instead, they give birth to live young. Eight is an average-size brood, with the number depending on the snake’s size, according to Roberts.

Roberts is studying how temperature changes and ultraviolet sunlight affect snake behavior. Another graduate student, Owen Bachhuber, is studying the family and social relationships between rattlesnakes.

The researchers watch the live feed all day. Beyond that, they’re getting help from as many as 500 people at a time who tune in online.

“We are interested in studying the natural behavior of rattlesnakes, free from human disturbance. What do rattlesnakes actually do when we’re not there?” Roberts said.

Now that the Rocky Mountain summer is cooling, some males have been returning. By November, the camera running on solar and battery power will be turned off until next spring, when the snakes will re-emerge from their “mega den.”

Colorado officials are working to relocate a pack of wolves in the state after the animals repeatedly attacked livestock.

“Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with technical support from federal partners, and as provided for in the 10(j) experimental population rule issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), have begun an operation to capture and relocate wolves from the depredating Copper Creek wolf pack,” Colorado Parks & Wildlife said in a press release on Wednesday.

The announcement follows just a week after state officials celebrated the birth of three pups from the Copper Creek pack, which was established after 10 wolves were released in December despite strong opposition from livestock groups. The pack now includes at least two adults.

The attempt to capture the wolves contradicts the state’s wolf management plan. The 2023 document advises against relocations, stating they “have little technical merit” and could cause problems in other areas if the animals continue preying on livestock.

In a statement, CPW Director Jeff Davis said, “the decision to capture and relocate the Copper Creek pack was made with the careful consideration of multiple factors and feedback from many different stakeholders.”

“Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward. The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado,” Davis added.

Ranching groups pushed for the wolf pack to be culled, while wildlife advocates argued that more preventive measures, such as electric fencing, should have been used to deter livestock attacks more effectively.

In other states, wolves are routinely hunted by wildlife officials in response to attacks against livestock.

However, last week, CPW spokesperson Travis Duncan said that Colorado sought to capture the wolves instead of killing them because “it’s too early in the process” to reintroduce them.

“We don’t have enough wolves on the landscape to lethally remove” the pack, Duncan said.

State officials did not reveal the location of the capture efforts but confirmed that the operation was being conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Michael Saul with Defenders of Wildlife said that the capture operations are a “big setback” for reintroducing the wolves.

“There are lots of ranchers using existing tools who are living with wolves and not having this problem,” Saul said.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.