A mature Black-tailed Rattlesnake we found on a late-night hike near Phoenix. These snakes live in mountainous or hilly areas, where they are often confused with a number of other rattlesnake species.
Blacktailed Rattlesnake in Arizona
Category: molossus
Blacktailed Rattlesnake on a Rock
A Blacktailed Rattlesnake from central Arizona. The species also often has black eyes, too, especially in higher elevation individuals. This animal is found in mountainous areas, and often misidentified as a Mojave Rattlesnake due to their bright color, even by (especially by!) long-term locals.
Baby Blacktailed Rattlesnake
A young Blacktailed Rattlesnake from the southeastern mountains of Arizona. When they are this age, they’ll often have subtle grey and black banding in the tail. This usually darkens to a solid black with age, but not always. Of the species of rattlesnakes in the state, coming across babies of this species out and about may be the least frequent for me.
Blacktailed Rattlesnake from Greenlee County, Arizona
A young Blacktailed Rattlesnake from the eastern end of Arizona. While not as sharply contrasted as the population from just south in the Sky Islands, I personally like the clean, subtle tones and velvety appearance of these snakes in this area.
Blacktailed Rattlesnake With A Friend
I found this young Blacktailed Rattlesnake resting under the dried-out husk of a small mammal (skunk?) in a cave near Phoenix on a survey of lands managed by Desert Foothills Land Trust.
In wet years, this small cave fills with water from a few inches to around a foot deep. It becomes putrid slop, full of javelina feces and dozens of animals hiding from the heat. This small mammal had died in that water, eventually settling against this wall. This summer, the cave was bone dry. But, the dozen or so rattlesnakes that aestivate here each year still showed up.
Blacktailed Rattlesnake In A Cave
A Blacktailed Rattlesnake hiding deep in a cave on an extremely hot day. During the heat of summer, rattlesnakes like this one may stay hidden away from lethal temperatures, staying in one spot or coming just outside the entrance after dark.
Blacktailed Rattlesnake In The Grass
A Blacktailed Rattlesnake coiled in the grass in the Madrean woodlands of southeastern Arizona. These large, greenish rattlesnakes are a common sight for hikers and naturalists in the area.
Blacktailed Rattlesnake Den
After a relatively unproductive weekend in the early Spring at higher elevation, I made a quick stop by a large rocky outcrop on the way home on a whim. I have been driving past this particular rock for more than a decade, always in a hurry somewhere or dead tired, always thinking “one nof these days, I’ll check that out; it has to be a den“. Well that day was the day, and of course, it was a winter den. This large blacktailed rattlesnake was laid out over a boulder getting some sun, with others another in the crevices behind it. I’ll check it out again next year in more prime conditions.
Blacktailed Rattlesnake from Greenlee County, Arizona
Blacktailed Rattlesnakes can live in a wide variety of habitats, from high pine forests to low desert around sea level. This one was found in Greenlee County, Arizona several years ago.
Blacktailed Rattlesnake At Night
A Blacktailed Rattlesnake we found on a late night hike of a canyon near Phoenix, Arizona. These are common snakes in mountainous regions, often seen by hikers. During the summer in desert areas, they are often most often nocturnal, usually encountered around sunup and just after dark. This one, fortunately, lives far from where people may come across it on accident.
