California Reptiles & Amphibians

Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus - Northern Mohave Rattlesnake



Click on a picture for a larger view




Range in California: Red







Venomous and Potentially Dangerous!

Adult, San Bernardino County
Adult, San Bernardino County
© Carl Brune
Adult, Kern County
© Todd Battey
Adult, Cochise County, Arizona.
(Note that the rear light stripe extends beyond the corner of the mouth.)
Juvenile, Pima County, Arizona
Adult, Cochise County, Arizona Adult, Santa Cruz County, Arizona
Adult, Los Angeles County, eating a Harris Antelope Ground Squirrel. © Erin McGuire
Juvenile resting during daytime inside a small burrow, Kern County
Albino adult, Kern County
© Brad Alexander
Adult, Hidalgo County, New Mexico
Adult in extreme defensive pose, Santa Cruz County, Arizona © 2004 Tim Burkhardt
Tail
Top of the head close-up showing two large scales between the supraoculars.
Compare with the
Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake.
© Patrick Briggs
Habitat, San Bernardino County
© 2004 Carl Brune
Habitat, Inyo County
Habitat, Kern County


Habitat, San Bernardino County
California Park sign.
Click the picture to see more
rattlesnake signs.

Click on the play button or the speaker to hear a Mojave Rattlesnake rattling
 
Rattlesnakes are important members of the natural community. They will not attack, but if disturbed or cornered, they will defend themselves. Reasonable watchfulness should be sufficient to avoid snakebite. Give them distance and respect.
 
Short Video
Several views of a Northern Mohave Rattlesnake rattling and taking a defensive posture.
Description
Venomous
The venom of this snake is potentially dangerous to humans.
Size
Adults 24 - 51 inches long (61 - 129 cm) Most seen are 18 - 40 inches. Newborns are about 10.5 inches.
Appearance
A heavy-bodied, dangeously venomous pit viper, with a thin neck and a large triangular head. Pupils are elliptical. Scales are keeled. Usually there are 2 or 3 large scales on the top of the head between the supraoculars. (The Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake usually has 4 or more small scales between the supraoculars.) A light stripe runs from behind the eye diagonally to the upper lip beyond the corner of the mouth, but does not cross over the lip. (The posterior light stripe of the Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake extends to the upper lip in front of the corner of the mouth, crossing over the lip.)

Ground color varies from greenish gray, yellow, tan, olive green, to brown. Irregular, dark, well-defined, diamond or near diamond-shaped dorsal markings.

Black and white rings surround a thick tail. The black rings are narrower than the light rings, and often offset. A rattle on the end of the tail, consisting of loose interlocking segments. A new rattle segment is added each time the skin is shed. Newly-hatched snakes do not have a rattle - just a single button which does not make a sound.

Similar to and easily confused with the Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake, though there is little range overlap in California.

Heat sensing pits on the sides of the head help the snake to locate prey by their warmth. Long, hollow, movable fangs connected to venom glands inject a very toxic venom which quickly immobilize prey. The snake can control the amount of venom injected and the fangs are replaced if broken. Bites on humans are potentially dangerous without immediate medical treatment. Even a dead snake can bite and inject venom if the jaws reflexively open when they are touched.
Behavior
Primarily nocturnal and crepuscular during periods of excessive daytime heat, but also active during daylight when the temperature is more moderate. Not active during cooler periods in Winter.

Prey is found while the snake is actively moving, or by ambush, where the snake waits near lizard or rodent trails, striking at and releasing passing prey. The snake then follows the trail of the envenomated animal and swallows it whole.

When alarmed, a rattlesnake shakes its tail back and forth. The movement rubs the rattle segments together producing a buzzing sound which serves as a warning. Juveniles are born with only a silent button at the end of the tail.
Diet
Eats small mammals, including ground squirrels, mice, rats, rabbits and hares, and occasionally lizards, snakes, and toads.
(Adult California Ground Squirrels are immune to rattlesnake venom and will intensely confront any snake they feel to be a threat.)
Reproduction
Live-bearing; young are born July - September. Male to male combat occurs.
Range
Found in southeastern California from the Colorado river roughly near the San Bernardino County line, west through the Mojave desert, north, east of the Sierras into Inyo County. Absent from the southeastern Colorado deserts, but there are unconfirmed reports of sightings west of the Colorado River in Imperial County. Ranges north into Nevada, east into west Texas, and far south into Mexico.
Habitat
Inhabits grassland, desert scrub, rocky slopes, creosote bush flats, open juniper woodland, and light chaparral.
Conservation Issues  (Conservation Status)
None.

Taxonomy
Family Viperidae Vipers
Genus Crotalus Rattlesnakes
Species scutulatus Mohave Rattlesnake
Subspecies

scutulatus Northern Mohave Rattlesnake
Original Description
Crotalus scutulatus - (Kennicott, 1861) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 13, p. 207

from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Crotalus - Greek - krotalon - a rattle - refers to the rattle on the tail
scutulatus
- Latin - having a shield shaped patch - refers to the dorsal pattern

from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz

Alternate Names
Mohave (or Mojave) Green Rattlesnake
Mohave (or Mojave) Rattlesnake

Related or Similar California Snakes
C. atrox - Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake
C. ruber - Red Diamond Rattlesnake
C. c. laterorepens - Colorado Desert Sidewinder
C. c. cerastes - Mohave Desert Sidewinder
C. m. pyrrhus - Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake
C. o. helleri - Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
C. o. lutosus - Great Basin Rattlesnake

More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer

California Dept. of Fish and Game

Living With Rattlesnakes

Tucson Herpetological Society: Living With Venomous Reptiles pdf

California Department of Fish and Game: Rattlesnakes in California


Rattlesnake Bites

California Poison Control System: Rattlesnake Bites

University of Arizona: Rattlesnakes

Justin Schwartz' Rattlesnake Bite Story and Pictures


Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.

Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.

Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000.

Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.

Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press.

Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.

Ernst, Carl. H. Venomous Reptiles of North America. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999.

Klauber, Laurence M. Rattlesnakes. University of California Press. (Abridged from the 1956 two volume Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind.) University of California Press, 1982.

Conservation Status

The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.

This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization
Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List





 

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