I spotted this Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake standing out amongst dark basalt on a crumbly hillside in the Maricopa Mountains a couple of years back. It’s only the second I’d seen in the range, with the first not resulting in a photograph worth saving.
An Arizona Black Rattlesnake from an exposed desert mountain hiding from the sun. This snake is entirely black, missing the lighter-colored bands that are usually retained by the species into adulthood. Above at the crest of the hill, an outcrop of basalt serves as its den, throwing rocks down the bajada between a spring and lower drainage. This snake was about halfway up, still in spring egress staging, eventually descending to the drainage below for the year.
Sonoran Sidewinders can be incredibly common in the right habitat, but that doesn’t often put them in the path of homeowners in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Of the six species of rattlesnakes that can be found at the native habitat contact zones, this species is the first to disappear whenever roads come in. They once spanned the entire Phoenix metro valley, found in the desert around the base of Camelback Mountain and as far north and east as Cave Creek and the foothills of Scottsdale. This one was found in an area that will become developed over the next decade, and this now dense population of snakes will likely disappear.
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.
Arizona Black Rattlesnake found at night in a wooded area of central Arizona.
