This baby Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, striking out on his own for the first time, ended up in a North Phoenix parking lot that wasn’t even there a year ago. Unfortunately, much of the remaining habitat in the area is also being smothered by invasive grasses and stinknet.
CJ was able to find a wash that hadn’t been too overrun yet, along with a deep rodent nest shaded by a palo verde on the western bank. The little Western Diamondback Rattlesnake was released into the burrow, giving him a much better place to continue figuring out life in an increasingly developed landscape.
