Our Desert Adventure - Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Trish and I recently returned from a week of exploring and hiking the desert areas of Arizona, particularly the Sonoran Desert in the area north of Phoenix. One of my goals was to find a rattlesnake. Well, while on a four-mile solo hike, I was walking beside a vertical rocky bluff, and there was this beautiful snake sunning itself in this nook in the rocks at about the height of my chin. Which gave me a perfect opportunity to photograph it (which I did for at least ten minutes).

This is a western diamondback rattlesnake, the largest of the western rattlesnakes. These snakes are often nocturnal, so I feel lucky to have found one. I suppose it helped that this was November when it is much cooler in the Sonoran Desert than during the summer months. Although you cannot see it in these photos, western diamondback rattlesnakes have a distinctive series of black and white bands around the last few inches of their tail, leading to the rattles at the tip. Because of this, diamondbacks are sometimes called coon-tail rattlesnakes.

Western diamondbacks have a reputation for being aggressive and rather dangerous. However, unless you try to handle them, accidentally step on them, or threaten them, they will leave you alone. After I photographed this snake for about ten minutes, it got a bit nervous and crawled into the dark hole at the back of this nook and out of sight. About an hour later, when I passed by the same spot again on my way back, it had come back out, giving me another opportunity for photos in a different pose.

95% of a diamondback's prey are small mammals, including prairie dogs, kangaroo rats, pocket gophers, voles, woodrats, and others. The other 5% includes such critters as birds, lizards, and sometimes even fish. Astoundingly, these snakes can go up to two years between meals in the wild. I kid you not... two years. Normally, though, when food is abundant, they eat once every two to three weeks.

Although some people hate and fear these snakes, western diamondbacks are important to the desert ecosystem, serving as an important predator of small mammals and as an important prey species for larger predators such as coyotes, foxes, hawks, and owls. In other words, these snakes are part of nature and should be respected and admired (from a safe distance, of course).

Photos - by Stan C. Smith