A small Banded Rock Rattlesnake in ambush along the base of a boulder in southeastern Arizona. The pattern and bands break up its shape, making it difficult to see in context. This is a good way to catch one of the many Yarrows Spiny Lizards jumping around on the same rocks each morning.
A Gila Monster out and about on a spring day a couple of years ago. On mild days, these animals start to move away from often communal dens to springtime staging areas. They may take daily patrols, searching for nesting mammals and quail eggs. It’s common for hikers to report them on social media frequently within a few days’ time, usually in late February or early March, which is a reliable signal that the process has begun each year.
If you walk a stream in much of Arizona right now, there’s a good chance you’ll run into one of these. It’s a Black-necked Gartersnake, getting breath and a break between dives to eat tadpoles. In any of the isolated pools along this drainage, there may be one or two, filling up on these seasonal globs of protein while they can. This particular snake is a very small baby, likely not much different in age than the tadpoles it’s hunting.
A California Kingsnake I saw crossing a road near my house. I was out looking for baby Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes to move off the roadway, which were out in force that night. I think this kingsnake and I were doing the same thing, though hoping for different outcomes. I moved it to the side of the road and wished it luck.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake sitting out in the early morning after a long night waiting for a mouse. It will have another chance for prey, as birds and lizards visit the hillside, possibly not noticing this orange “rock” perfectly situated in the landscape.
Arizona Black Rattlesnake as seen from above. This snake was found in ambush on a narrow channel leading to a rare water hole – animals must walk this path to drink, making for a great hunting spot.
A large Tiger Rattlesnake in a loose ambush coil near a series of rodent nests. This one was found just after sunup in a heavily urbanized area. Not all hunting postures for rattlesnakes are simple coils. Rattlesnakes may actively track, then settle in for a relatively short period, then move and set up again. I don’t know if this one succeeded, but it was gone when I passed through the area an hour later.
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake waiting for an unlucky animal to come along in Phoenix. These locations are carefully selected, often after tracking a scent trail for some distance to find an ideal ambush situation.
