Tag: chiricahua

A New Rattlesnake for the National Park System: Twin-Spotted Rattlesnakes at Chiricahua National Park

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

A new rattlesnake for the National Park system. The newly minted Chiricahua National Park includes habitat for one of our state’s lesser-known venomous snakes.

Twin Spotted Rattlesnakes are small, high-elevation rattlesnakes that live in a handful of mountain ranges in the Sky Islands region of Arizona. Hikers may see them rarely, visiting the peaks and upper saddles of the Santa Rita, Huachuca, Pinaleno, and Chiricahua ranges.

In the Chiricahuca National Park, they may be found at the upper elevations, above 6,000′. Much of the park is lower than that, but the longer trails leading to Massai Point get into the right areas where one may be spotted.

They’re so small (usually under 2 feet long as adults) that most long-term visitors don’t even know they exist. They do rattle, but usually just silently slip off the trail or into the rocks. If a rattle does happen, it’s a quiet buzz that sounds more like an insect than a rattlesnake.

Twin-Spotted Rattlesnakes are protected in Arizona and should never be captured or killed.

Prival, D. B., Goode, M. J., Swann, D. E., Schwalbe, C. R., & Schroff, M. J. (2002). Natural history of a northern population of twin-spotted rattlesnakes, Crotalus pricei. Journal of Herpetology, 36(4), 598–607. https://doi.org/10.1670/0022-1511(2002)036[0598:NHOANP]2.0.CO;2

Twin Spotted Rattlesnake in an Example of Habitat

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

A Twin Spotted Rattlesnake in habitat at the top of a mountain in southern Arizona. These are rattlesnakes that are often mistaken as a non-venomous species due to their small size and head that is not as strongly differentiated from the neck as people expect. They are rarely seen by hikers, but a “what is this snake?” photo of one tends to pop up a few times a year from the Santa Rita mountains south of Tucson.

This is a young individual that I spotted as I climbed up to the ridgeline from a fruitless search below. It never made a sound, but slipped silently into the rocks to escape, as they do. I surely walked past a dozen more, who performed this disappearing act with better timing.

Twin Spotted Rattlesnake High on Mt. Graham

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

A Twin Spotted Rattlesnake that we found in eastern Arizona, showing off many more than “twin” spots. These tiny rattlesnakes can vary greatly in appearance from one location to the next, even between individuals in a single population. These are not likely to be seen unless you are spending time in the highest areas of a handful of the Chiricahua, Huachuca, Pinaleño, or Santa Rita mountain ranges.

Prival, D. B., Goode, M. J., Swann, D. E., Schwalbe, C. R. (2002), & Schroff, M. J.. Natural History of a Northern Population of Twin-Spotted Rattlesnakes, Crotalus pricei. Journal of Herpetology, 36(4), 598–607.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1670/0022-1511(2002)036[0598:NHOANP]2.0.CO;2