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A Guide to California's
Reptiles and Amphibians



Rattlesnake Sounds and Video

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Sound Recordings
        
This is an 18 second recording of the rattling of a Northern Mohave Rattlesnake, Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus, shown above.
This is a 10 second recording of rattling and hissing of the Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox, shown above.
This is a 9 second recording of the faint rattling of a Mohave Sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes cerastes, shown above.
This is an 8 second recording of the rattling of a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus oreganus, shown above.


This is a recording of the rattle of a captive Great Basin Rattlesnake (not the snake shown above) recorded with the snake in a plastic bucket in cool temperatures. © Jeff Rice
(Listen to more recordings of this snake at the Western Soundscape Archive)
Not to be used without permission.
Indoor recording of the rattling of a captive adult Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.) © Jeff Rice / Western Soundscape Archive Not to be used without permission.
 Indoor recording of the rattling of a captive adult Sonoran Sidewinder (courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.) © Jeff Rice / Western Soundscape Archive Not to be used without permission. Indoor recording of the rattling of a captive adult Banded Rock Rattlesnake (courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.) © Jeff Rice / Western Soundscape Archive Not to be used without permission.
 
 
Indoor recording of the rattling of a captive adult Tiger Rattlesnake (courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.)
© Jeff Rice / Western Soundscape Archive Not to be used without permission.		 Indoor recording of the rattling of a captive adult Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake (courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.) This species has small rattles which make a relatively quiet buzzing sound. © Jeff Rice / Western Soundscape Archive Not to be used without permission. Indoor recording of the rattling of a captive adult Black-tailed Rattlesnake (courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.) © Jeff Rice / Western Soundscape Archive Not to be used without permission.  
Short Videos of Rattlesnakes
A large old Red Diamond Rattlesnake rattles on top of a boulder in coastal San Diego County. A close view of a rattling Red Diamond Rattlesnake's tail. A Red Diamond Rattlesnake crawls across hot sand at mid day in San Diego County, then takes shelter between some rocks. A Southern Pacific Rattlesnake poses and rattles and crawls away at night in Los Angeles County.
A Northern Pacific Rattlesnake in Contra Costa County coils defensively, rattles, and senses the air with its tongue.
A Northern Pacific Rattlesnake Rattle A Great Basin Rattlesnake crawls under a bush and rattles in Siskiyou County.
A coiled Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake rattles, uncoils, and crawls into a bush. (The sound has been deleted in the middle due to excessive background noise.)
A Panamint Rattlesnake found on a road at night in Inyo County, rattles and crawls away.
Several views of a Northern Mohave Rattlesnake rattling and taking a defensive posture.
Several views of a Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake rattling and
taking a defensive pose with head and tail elevated, then crawling away.
A large adult speckled rattlesnake rattling and crawling away on a windy night.
A Mojave Sidewinder in motion
on a windy night.		 A Colorado Desert Sidewinder found on a road at night rattles and sidewinds. Most rattlesnakes will do exactly what this one did when I encountered it in the late afternoon on a mountain road - turn and crawl quickly away, with a little rattling thrown in as a warning.  Rattlesnakes are often depicted in fiction as aggressors, leaping and striking viciously, often for no reason other than to give the hero an excuse to kill it to prove himself. The truth is that rattlesnakes are almost always defensive, not offensive, when they encounter humans, wanting nothing more than to escape, and the least heroic thing someone can do is to automatically kill them. A Great Basin Rattlesnake rattles
at night in the Nevada desert.
   
This video begins with a squirrel's high-pitched alarm call coming from a large group of shrubs in the Sierra Nevada mountains. When I got closer the squirrel ran away and I saw this rattlesnake climbing down a branch then farther back into the bushes. Later, after the camera batteries died, the snake returned and crawled outside the shrubs while the squirrel called and ran around outside the bushes near the snake, but outside of its striking range. A Northern Pacific Rattlesnake in the Sierra Nevada mountains crawls into a crack and shakes its tail.    
Rattlesnake Mimics
   
   
Burrowing Owls, Athene cunicularia, are known to imitate the sound of a rattlesnake when they are threatened, typically when a predator such as a ground squirrel attempts to enter their burrow. The sound is thought to scare off the predator. (See Batesian mimicry.)

This is a recording of three fledgling Burrowing Owls mimicing the sound of a rattlesnake, recorded at the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in southern Idaho.The birds were temporarily placed in a plastic bucket during a conservation study by Dr. James Belthoff of Boise State University.

© Jeff Rice
(Listen to more recordings of these owls at the Western Soundscape Archive)
Not to be used without permission.
Cicadas, during part of their performance, sound very much like the rattling of a rattlesnake. This is not really a mimic, but a sound that can be confused for a rattlesnake. It might even startle you if the insect suddenly starts rattling while you're walking through the desert. The cicada heard here was recorded during daylight in Pima County, Arizona. Cicadas in California's deserts make a similar sound. (The picture above shows a cicada photographed in Texas.) Notice the rattling sounds, followed by a loud electronic sound which is then followed by the rattling sound. Sometimes this is repeated many times.
   


















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