Tag: sky islands

Banded Rock Rattlesnake Up Close

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

Up close with a Banded Rock Rattlesnake from the sky islands of southeastern Arizona. These small, mountain-dwelling rattlesnakes are quick to flee when found. A typical encounter for a hiker is a short buzz and a glimpse of the last half of its body sliding under a rock.

The tiny black flecks you see in the scales aren’t really visible in real life, or even visible at all. They show up on camera sensors, though, for some reason. Similarly, it’s often difficult to capture the colors of the species on camera … a snake with a bright green stripe down its back may appear to be without it on camera.

Mojave Rattlesnake in Arizona Grassland

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

I saw this Mojave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus) crossing a dirt road near the U.S./Mexican border a few years ago in mid-elevation semi-desert grassland. Several other species can be found in the same band o transitional habitat, including Arizona Ridgenosed Rattlesnakes, Banded Rock Rattlesnakes, Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes, and Blacktailed Rattlesnakes. I escorted it off the road before it was killed by border patrol vehicles.

Twin-Spotted Rattlesnake in Arizona

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

Twin Spotted Rattlesnakes (Crotalus pricei) are small, high-elevation rattlesnakes that are found in a handful of mountain ranges in the Sky Islands region of Arizona and northern Mexico. They are occasionally seen by hikers on high saddles and trails, where they are quick to flee with a departing buzz. A person would really have to pick one up or be hiking barefoot to get bitten by one, if they’re even lucky enough to see one or have it stick around long enough for that to happen.

Banded Rock Rattlesnake

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

Banded Rock Rattlesnakes are common in the hills and mountains of southeastern Arizona. They come in a variety of colors, often a combination of grey, blue, green, and pink, like this one. They’re quick to flee, and it would be hard to see a situation where a hiker or the relatively few people who live where they do could consider them something to fear. We found this one more than a decade ago, and it very well may be still cruising around in that same spot each year.

Banded Rock Rattlesnake with a Green Tint

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

Banded Rock Rattlesnakes are common in several of the sky islands of southeastern Arizona. They’re smaller than most expect a rattlesnake to be, with most that I’ve encountered being less than two feet long. They’re also strongly sexually dimorphic, which is not common in rattlesnakes. Males, like this one, often develop bright, metallic greens on their bodies, which matches the common lichen found on rocks where they live. This one that we found was exceptional.