Field Herper.com

Field notes and photography by Bryan D. Hughes
Jan
31st
2011

Roomies: Desert Tortoises and Rattlesnakes

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8 Responses to “Roomies: Desert Tortoises and Rattlesnakes”

  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bryan D. Hughes, SFAAZK. SFAAZK said: RT @zigbot: Rattlesnake and Tortoise Living Together http://t.co/5ek8PiO […]

  2. marianne says:

    COOL! Makes me want to look in every hole now 🙂

  3. Bryan says:

    Well, you can, but be careful. There’re snakes in there! Do you see many in your travels?

  4. marianne says:

    Don’t have to travel to see them. I live in NE Scottsdale against the McDowell Mountains so we have many species venture into our yard. My cats had a narrow escape last year! http://ezpixels.com/pad/?p=5846

  5. Bryan says:

    That’s amazing that it’s the only one you’ve seen in that area in such a long time. Have you always lived in that location? I work in Scottsdale and have had absolutely no trouble finding rattlesnakes in the McDowells, and get called out there quite often to remove them from porches.

  6. Michael says:

    Do rattlesnakes and tortoises “get along” or are there any conflicts between them that you may be aware of?

  7. Bryan says:

    I really don’t know much about their relationship, other than the two instances I have found of them sitting together. I would assume that there are absolutely no problems, unless the snake is surprised somehow, as neither is a natural threat to the other.

  8. Michael says:

    Hm ok. There is a tortoise that lives in a particular hole in the side of a wash (I’ve seen him there consistently for 2+ years), and once he was absent, and there was a shed atrox skin in the hole. The next time there was no rattlesnake, and the tortoise was back… makes me wonder how they interact, if at all…

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