He’s pretty cool looking, too.

Crotalus cerberus

Arizona Black Rattlesnake

Very beautiful, very venomous, not too dangerous; the Sonoran Coralsnake, Micruroides euryxanthus:

Micruroides euryxanthus

Closer, you can see those tiny venom glands slightly swelling behind the eyes. It takes an act of extreme stupidity to actually get envenomated by these guys, who tend to fart as a primary defensive move. The Chihuahuan Hooknosed Snake will also fart in defense, and I have to say that their performance is more impressive than these little corals. The ‘cloacal popping’, as it is more nicely put, sounds like little armpit farts in the hooknosed snake, while the coral sounds more like someone walking across a freshly waxed floor in rubber shoes.

These are one of the very few Elapid species found in the United States. The Elapidae family is better known for its inclusion of Cobras, Sea Snakes, and Mambas, with whom these little coralsnakes have neurtoxic venom in common.

Anyone that’s tried to catch one of these, too, knows just how disorienting the pattern can be. They seem to move in an exaggerated S-pattern when trying to escape and will more or less disappear in front of your eyes, like a color wheel given a spin.

Sonoran Coralsnake

It was the only one I saw in 2010, and I really hope 2011 is better.

He’s missing the usual black eyescale that these guys have, and is a pretty standard desert-phase coloration. He was found crossing the road near a canal, so the best I can figure is that he was crawling between rock piles somewhere off on the horizon and got “stuck” against the uncrossable line, and had followed it here.

Interestingly enough, it’s not the first time I’d found a ‘mountains only’ kind of snake in this spot. The lyresnake (another snake that lives in the hills and mountains) in my collection was found less than a quarter mile from this spot. Strangeness.

Diamondback Rattlesnake

Here’s his ladyfriend/roomie out hunting early one morning. There are at least 4 different diamondbacks that I’ve seen that live in this one hole, and 14 total within a half mile that can be visited with regularity. The hole is within 20 feet of a popular walking trail, too, but from the tracks they leave it looks like they don’t go that direction. Good for passive hikers, good for the snakes.

Fast forward 3 days, and in a different burrow, with a different tortoise and different snake, not even 50 yards away:

I returned to the area every day for the next couple of weeks (except a few lazy days). The tortoise was always there, but the diamondback moved on. Still … it’s not common you get a chance to make up a missed shot.

First, this is, as Mr. Price put it, “intended to be a ‘science’ book”, and that it isn’t. The majority of the book is photography by the author and a few other field herpers, sprinkled with a couple pages of text here and there that more or less give some context to the next grouping of photos. Though lean on the science, what is there can be pretty useful. The phenotype information is about as detailed as the book gets, but this is very useful when combined with the maps, habitat shots, and various shots of lepidus from different mountain ranges.

The real stand-outs are the animals, of which Michael Price has done a great job showing off the amazing variation of the species. The photography is very good, though I do wish there were a few more scenic shots of the animals in their environments. The part that is personally most useful are the habitat shots. Each mountain range is a little different, and it takes some work to find that sweet spot where everything is just right for snakes. I even recognized one rock photographed in the Guadalupe Mountains, where every time I drive by, makes me think “I bet that place is crawling with leps.”. Now I know for sure it is, and this will be one of the first places I visit on my trip.

All in all I think it’s a great book to have if you’re a lepidus lover, but not the best if you have a more casual view of them. While pages and pages of pictures of different rock rattlesnakes is very interesting to field herpers, it might not be the best way to spend $25 if you don’t actually plan on someday visiting all of these.

A Guide to the Rock Rattlesnakes of the United States is available on Amazon.com, and in the bookstore on this site.

A Guide to Rock Rattlesnakes of the United States

Crotalus scutulatus

To people who aren’t experienced, the Mojave Rattlesnake can be difficult to distinguish from the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. Their convergent patterning and tail banding can be confusing without an understanding of some of the basic differences in their physiology. Below is a photo of one of these differences, the number of scales between the ocular scales which cover the eyes. In the Mojave, there are 2 (occasionally 3). In a Western Diamondback, there are 4 or more.

2 Scuts between the eyes.

Weather: Wunderground.com

Moon Phase: U.S. Navy Astronomical Applications

AZ County Map: map_arizona_county

Online Spreadsheets: Google Docs

AZPARC Field Guide: reptilesofaz.com

Satellite Map: Google Earth

First and foremost, and not included on this list, is simply Google.com. The above links are useless without knowledge of the natural history, habits, and lifestyles of the animals you’re looking for.

Thoughts on the subject from fellow herpers usually assume food availability and competition is a primary factor in our mini-atrox. I was doing some reading today on the topic and found found some information on supplemented food effecting growth rates (and other factors) in atrox. Although it does not infer discuss food availability in Texas versus Arizona, it does show that this is a factor that can directly result in larger or smaller animals. Interesting reading for anyone interested in the subject.

Effects of food supplementation on Western diamond-backed rattlesnakes Crotalus atrox in the Upland Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA

Taylor E.N, Malawy M.A., Browning D.M., Lemar S.V. & DeNardo D.F. (2005) Effects of food supplementation on the physiological ecology of female Western diamond-backed rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox). Oecologia, 144, 206-213 (added by: Showler D.A. 2006).