New Mexico Ridgenosed Rattlesnake, Crotalus willardi obscurus. This adult was found in high-elevation woodland in northern Mexico.
New Mexico Ridgenosed Rattlesnake
Category: Crotalus
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake in Ambush
Speckled Rattlesnakes are often seen by hikers in Phoenix, who can be surprised that wildlife can be found even on hiking trails in the middle of the city. If you’ve ever hiked Camelback, you’ve likely walked right past at least one of these beautiful pink animals. They’re very cryptic though, so not many people will ever know.
Mojave Rattlesnake from the Phoenix Area
Mojave Rattlesnake of a fairly typical color and pattern for the Phoenix area. These snakes are common in the flat, sandy creosote areas surrounding the city. They were once common in what is now downtown, being found in the flats around Camelback Mountain and Piestewa Peak (though not on the mountains themselves). They’ve long been extirpated from those areas, but can still be found in small, isolated pockets of habitat around Scottsdale.
Arizona Ridgenosed Rattlesnake in Habitat
An Arizona Ridgenosed Rattlesnake found in bunchgrass on a perfect, overcast day in the Arizona sky islands.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake Looking Like Its Name
An orange Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake making good on its name. While its bands are still visible, the chaotic distribution of colors can make this animal very difficult to see in context. This one lives near quite a few people with hundreds hiking right past it every weekend, but bites nobody.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake
(Crotalus pyrrhus)https://rattlesnakesolutions.com/SpeckledRattlesnake
New Mexico Ridgenosed Rattlesnake
New Mexico Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake, Crotalus willardi obscurus
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.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake Staying Cool
A Western Diamondback Rattlesnake in ambush in a sandy wash on a very hot night.
This sand is much cooler than the surrounding rock, with smaller particles that lose energy more quickly. While it’s easy to think of reptiles as ectotherms always looking for sources of heat, they’re just as often looking for ways to lose it. Thermoregulating is more like a behavioral thermostat, and areas like this help.
The Arizona State Reptile
An Arizona Ridgenosed Rattlesnake from the southeastern corner of the state. This is also our state reptile.
Quiz time: This subspecies of ridgenosed rattlesnake is only found in Arizona and Mexico. There are two other rattlesnakes that are also only found in Arizona and Mexico. What are they?
Sidewinder, The Horned Rattlesnake
cerastesA Sonoran Sidewinder that had just crossed a road west of Phoenix. These small specialist rattlesnakes are abundant in the right conditions. This is the reason that hikers will almost never come across one … the flat sandy habitat they need is nobody’s hiking destination.
Leavitt, D. J., & Grimsley, A. A. (2019). Density, recapture probability, biomass, productivity, and population structure of Sidewinders (Crotalus cerastes) in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Herpetology Notes, 12, 427–435. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332802062