Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

wdiamondback: COMMON NAME: Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Crotalus atrox

DESCRIPTION:

VENOMOUS

An aggressive and easily excitable rattlesnake, the western diamondback is responsible for more snakebite deaths than any other in the country. It is also the largest rattlesnake in California, measuring 34-83 inches in length. It has a plump body, a short tail and a broad, triangular head.

Its heavy body has dark diamond shaped blotches with light borders. There are twp light diagonal lines on the side of its triangular shaped head. The base of the tail is encircled with white and black rings. It can be yellowish gery, pale blue, or even pink in color.

LIFE HISTORY:

Mating begins in spring after the snakes emerge from their winter hibernation. Copulation lasts for several hours, with several resting periods. Gestation lasts for 167 days, at the end of which the 4-23 young emerge from their eggs prior to birth and are born live, 8-12 inches in length. They stay with their mother for only a few hours and then set off on their own. The snakes will reach sexual maturity after 3 years. They have been known to live 27 years in captivity.

ECOLOGY:

The western diamondback is found throughout the southwest. In California, it is found in desert regions, including open desert, rockcanyons and hillsides.

The snake eats rodents, birds, lizards, and even fish and invertebrates. They hunt using their tongue to sense chemicals left by prey and their pit organs to sense variations in heat. The western diamondback is preyed upon by hawks, bald eagles, roadrunners and wild turkeys.

animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu, the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
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