Western Diamondback Rattlesnake interaction matrices for network analysis

Social network ecology is a powerful framework to assess patterns of interconnectedness and identify group-level interactions. We investigated social network structure in a pitviper (Crotalus atrox) to determine if group-level interactions result in network structures for denning, pairing, and parentage. We tested if network centrality was influenced by body length, sex, home range size/location, or generic relatedness. We revealed that networks were structurally modular but not nested. Sex was the only significant predictor of centrality in the parentage network, likely due to high levels of multiple paternity. Genotypic data revealed interacting focal individuals were unlikely to be related in networks; however, analysis of a larger group of subjects suggests kin-association at communal dens. Den selection may be driven by a combination of social preference, experience, and/or genetic relatedness. We demonstrated strong fission-fusion dynamics connected to annual migrations to summer ..., Animals selected for this study were typically collected at or near known communal dens during egress in spring (March–April). The presence and location of communal rattlesnake dens at the Suizo study site has been known for nearly three decades and reported earlier. All other snakes we processed in this study were collected in late spring and summer (May–September) when they were dispersed in their home ranges.  
Subjects were captured using conventional snake hooks and plastic grabbers. The capture process, which involved grabbing a snake and placing it into a clear plastic tube for temporary restraint (1 m length; diameter varied in size), was done gently and typically required less than 1 min to minimize handling stress. At the time of capture Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates were collected as Universal Transverse Mercators (UTMs).
Within 24-h of their initial capture, all subjects were measured (snout-vent length, tail length, head dimensions to the nearest millimeter; b...,