A Banded Rock Rattlesnake from southeastern Arizona. These snakes are typically quick to rattle and flee into cover. But due to their small size, it can sound more like an insect than a rattlesnake. Despite being common and locally abundant, there is little chance of an accidental bite to anyone not purposely trying to capture one.
A Western Diamondback Rattlesnake I found eating a rodent. Which order of these animals do you think kills more people in any given year in the US?
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake hanging out in a drainage, as it does about every morning, during the lethally hot period of Arizona summer. For much of the year, rattlesnakes are largely nocturnal, encountered by hikers and homeowners only just after sunup and again after dark.
A Great Basin Rattlesnake from one of the most remote areas of northwestern Arizona … the kind of place that sees more low flying helicopters than trucks. These snakes, as juveniles, have crisp lines and blotches that look similar to other rattlesnakes of the Western Rattlesnake complex. As they mature, however, the pattern often disintegrates into these messy blotches.
We found this little Great Basin Rattlesnake in extreme northern Arizona. The Great Basin Desert is one of FOUR desert regions that converge in Arizona, each bringing diversity of rattlesnakes and other wildlife to the state. If you’re ever wondering why Arizona has more rattlesnakes than anywhere else, that single fact is a major factor.
A bright white and silver Speckled Rattlesnake from a desert boulder field in Baja California Norte, Mexico. This is among my personal favorite phenotypes of a very diverse species.
An Arizona Black Rattlesnake found in mid-elevation oak woodland near Tucson. This species of rattlesnake can change color in a relatively short amount of time, often appearing much lighter and heavily patterned at night, and transitioning to this inky black in the light. Other factors, such as social interactions and mood may also affect this shift.
These snakes are highly prized by collectors and quite a few leave this particular area in bags each year, often headed for illegal breeding and sale elsewhere in the US.
One of many Western Diamondback Rattlesnake out in the rain on a cold December night. Being warm is great and all, but water drives activity in the desert.
You may see us issue a statement from time to time to give a heads up before going to firewood piles, etc. These events are largely predictable, where rattlesnakes behave in ways that are surprising to most people, and we may assume it’s not possible to see a rattlesnake. When you see something like that from us, know that it’s from a lot of data and getting out of bed in the middle of the night in December to stand around in the rain waiting to see if snakes come out 🙂
A thunderstorm materialized while I was hiking in a canyon in southern Arizona, so I ducked into a grove of suitable trees to wait it out and not be the tallest thing in the area. While waiting, I saw scales … though not many. It was a Banded Rock Rattlesnake that had emerged from nearby rocks to take advantage of the first rain in several months. It was a reminder that even when intently looking for them, most rattlesnake encounters are ones we will never know about.
An Arizona Black Rattlesnake we spotted on a late-night search near Phoenix. These higher-elevation snakes are common in the central Arizona, where they are often misidentified as “Timber Rattlesnake”, though no timber rattlesnakes live anywhere in the Western US.
