The Colorado desert scrub that makes up much of the wild areas to the West of Phoenix are absolutely crawling with Sonoran Sidewinders (Crotalus cerastes cercobombus) on warm nights in the springtime. They all look incredibly similar as well, for the most part. When they’re moving I typically see 5 or more in an outing. I always photograph the first one, and then just check to make sure the others don’t have some cool mutation or something, and let them be on their way. Here are a three of the 10 instances of these small rattlesnakes I found within 2 evenings in April.
Sonoran Sidewinder
Crotalus cerastes cercobombus
Crotalus cerastes cercobombus
Tags: arizona, crotalus cerastes cercobombus, Field Herping, field herping arizona, pictures, rattlesnakes, sonoran sidewinder
