actually, i would say about 90% of colubrids shake their tails when nervous or angry. all of my corns, ratsnakes, milksnakes, my pine, and my bulls do it. the only ones in my collection who don't are my garters. These is a difference, however, in the intensity of the rattling. a pine snake's rattle actually feels like a vibrating phone when you're holding them. I now have a pinesnake, she is AWESOME. She occasionally will hiss at me, and the reason their hiss is so loud is because of the way that they curl their lips when they do it. Most snakes jsut open their mouths and exhale deeply. these guys actually curl their lips to maximize the noise they make. For example, here's my male bullsnake Jake the Snake(close relative to the pine) doing just this.
all members of
pituophis (pine snakes, bull snakes, gopher snakes) do this and do it WELL. as soon as you pick them up, they usually quit the act.