A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake making it difficult to tell where snake ends and rock begins.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake Extreme Camouflage
Category: pyrrhus
Gravid Speckled Rattlesnake At Rest
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake resting in the shade outside its summer aestivation den. It’s one of a handful that gather here each year to hide from the heat and gestate.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake in Bighorn Mountains
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake from a mountain range in western Arizona. This is one of a couple seen on a sunrise hike on what would be a very hot day. It was spotted crossing a wash from a sandy rise in the center, where it had likely spent the night in ambush. As temperatures approached 100˚F at around 7am, this snake needed to get to deep cover, and it knew right where to go.
Speckled Rattlesnake In Central Phoenix
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake as they typically appear around Camelback Mountain in central Phoenix. It’s a surprise to many that multiple species of rattlesnakes are still present within a heavily populated urban area, but they continue to thrive there. Excessive heat from a surrounding sea of pavement makes life difficult in the summer, however, which often leads to encounters at adjacent homes with rattlesnakes looking to cool off in the lawns and citrus oasis of Paradise Valley.
Drinking Rattlesnake
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake emerges from its aestivation den for a short time to drink rainwater from its scales. In a rare pre-monsoon summer rain, every drop is needed. Hydrophobic keeled scales collect rain droplets, which the snake drinks over time.
Speckled Rattlesnake With White Eyes
A Speckled Rattlesnake from the Belmont Mountains, west of Phoenix. These rattlesnakes in this range often lack much of the characteristic speckling within the eye, leaving solid-colored, light grey or pale white eyes. A typical response when we post a snake from this area is something like “it’s ready to shed skin”, though that is not at all the case.
Speckled Rattlesnake In Perfect Ambush
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake looking just like a chunk of granite, fallen off the overhead outcrop. As the sun gets lower in the sky, a variety of rodents, birds, and lizards do what they do in surrounding bushes and rocks, oblivious to the invisible predator. To hikers on the mountain, they’re often just as cryptic, remaining hidden as hundreds of feet pass by every Saturday on popular trails.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake in Orange Form
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake on the move late at night in Phoenix. These snakes are the most commonly encountered snake on many trails in the area. For the reasons you can see here, and others, these snakes are quite often misidentified as Tiger Rattlesnakes when people see them. At popular trails like Piestewa (not where this one was), they’re seen about every night, even on very busy paths. But, contrary to how people often think of rattlesnakes: bites are nearly unheard of in those situations.
Speckled Rattlesnake Drinking Rainwater
One of several Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnakes drinking water from its hydrophobic scales after a surprise June rain a few years ago. These snakes group up, often alongside other species, to wait out the hottest, driest times of year. When a rare rain event does come, everyone comes out to soak and drink all they can. Regardless of the season, every chance to drink in Arizona may be the last one for months, and these events are not to be missed.
Red Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake
A red-hued Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake from Phoenix, Arizona. Its red coloration is typical of the local phenotype, which may include many variations of reds, orange, purple, and all shades in between.
These snakes are common in popular hiking areas, but are not an issue for people. Considering the hundreds of people that visit area trailheads each weekend during the peak of these animals’ activity, bites are incredibly uncommon. Hikers can keep that status by staying on trails, not wearing headphones or texting while walking, and keeping dogs on leash (it’s the law, too).
