CaliforniaHerps.com

A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California




Western Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus

Southern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus helleri

Meek, 1905

(= Crotalus helleri; = Crotalus viridis helleri)

Click on a picture for a larger view

Dark Blue: Range of this subspecies in California
Crotalus oreganus helleri - Southern Pacific Rattlesnake

Range of other subspecies in California:

OrangeCrotalus oreganus lutosus -
Great Basin Rattlesnake

RedCrotalus oreganus oreganus -
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake

Gray: Intergrade Range


Click on the map for a topographical view

Map with California County Names





observation link







Venomous and Potentially Dangerous!
 
Typical Adults Juveniles Unusual Patterns and Colors Tails and Rattles
Breeding Season Behavior Predation Feeding Habitat
Rattlesnakes and Gophersnakes -
How to Tell the Difference
Video and Sounds  
 
Adults
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Adult, San Diego County © Howard Lange
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Adult, San Diego County
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Adult, San Diego County Adult, San Diego County
© Bruce Edley
Captive adult, courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
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Adult, Ventura County
© Patrick Briggs
Adult, Ventura County
© Patrick Briggs
Adult, Ventura County
© Patrick Briggs
Adult, San Diego County
© Chris Gruenwald
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Adult, Santa Catalina Island
© Nathan Smith
Adult, Santa Catalina Island
© Nathan Smith
Adult, San Diego County
© 2003 Chris Gruenwald
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Adult, Los Angeles County 
© Koby Poulton
Adult, near La Jolla, San Diego County, about 1/3 mile from the beach. Adult, Riverside County
© Michael Clarkson
Snakes of two different color variations found in the same location in San Diego County. © Steve Bledsoe
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Adult, Los Angeles County © Gregory Litiatco Dark adult, San Bernardino County
© Jeff Ahrens
Adult found on a doorstep in Orange County. © Jay Selman
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Very dark adult, Cuyamaca Mountains, San Diego County © Stuart Young Adult, Santa Barbara County, with unusual brown coloring and a gold pattern. © Brian Hinds Adult, Ventura County
© Wayne Darrell Crank Jr.
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Adults, Santa Barbara County
© Ryan Sikola
Adult with long string of rattles, 4000 ft. San Diego County mountains
© James R. McFadden
Adult, San Diego County
© Paul Maier
High-elevation black adult with some blue coloring on some of the lower scales, San Bernardino County
© John Buckman
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Adult, San Diego County © Noah Correia

This rattlesnake is in a defensive position, head back, ready to strike, rattling its tail, and puffing itself up to look bigger and more threatening. Click on the picture on the right to see an animated example of the snake getting a little bit larger.
Adult, San Diego County © Noah Correia
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Adult in defensive pose,
Orange County © Brian Nann
Adult in defensive pose,
Orange County © Brian Nann
Adult with brownish-green coloration (resembling the coloration of a Mojave Green Rattlesnake) found in the Santa Monica Mountains, Ventura County
© Max Roberts
Yellowish adult, Orange County
© Max Roberts
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Large black adult, Los Angeles County © Eric DeLeon Adult, Los Angeles County
© Zeev Nitzan Ginsburg
Adult, San Diego County
© Marcus Rehrnam
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Adult, eastern San Diego County © Nick Jones Adult, Orange County © Mark Baskin  
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Adult found underneath a discarded microwave oven in Riverside County
© Zeev Nitzan Ginsburg
Adult, Orange County © Mark Baskin  
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This adult was crossing a sandy road one morning at the eastern edge of San Diego County. It was surprised to see me and
made a quick U-turn then crawled into a bush, leaving me a good look at the tracks it made in the sand.
 
       
Juveniles
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Juvenile with yellow tail, Los Angeles County
(Note that the rattle consists of only one segment which does not produce a sound.)
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Juvenile, Santa Monica Mountains,
Los Angeles County © Colin Byrne
Juvenile, about 12 inches in length, Orange County, flattening its body to appear larger. © David Fong

Juvenile with U.S. quarter-dollar coin
(2.3 cm or 15/16 ths of an inch wide)
San Diego County © Lori Paul

Juvenile, San Bernardino County
© Patrick Briggs
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Tiny juvenile in March (next to house keys for size reference),
coastal Riverside County © Brett Badeaux
Pale juvenile, San Bernardino County
© Wayne Darrell Crank Jr.

Juvenile, San Diego County
© John T. Snow

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Dark neonate, Orange County
© Nozomi
Juvenile, San Diego County
© Verle Thompson
Juvenile, Los Angeles County
© Zeev Nitzan Ginsburg
Juvenile basking on loose bark, Ventura County © Mark Kroenke
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Orange county juvenile on a ledge with a very nice view. © Mark Baskin Juvenile, Los Angeles County
© Eric DeLeon
Juvenile full from recent meal,
San Bernardino County
© Jeff Ahrens
       
Tails and Rattles
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Adult tail and rattle Adult tail and rattle, Los Angeles County © 2006 Koby Poulton
Adult with long rattle, San Diego County © James R. McFadden  
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The tail of a newborn juvenile has only a single silent yellow button on the end of its tail. As it grows it will add rattle segments at the end of the tail behind the button, which remains at the end. Newborn rattle button Juvenile tail and snall rattle  
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Photos © Agata Labianca
This adult Southern Pacific Rattlesnake observed in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles County is missing the end of its tail with the rattle. It could have been bitten off by an animal or crushed by a bicycle or automobile tire or maybe somebody cut it off. That's unlikely on a live snake, though it's not uncommon to find a dead rattlesnake with the rattle cut off. Since it's possible to find a live rattlesnake without a rattle, one should always learn how to recognize a rattlesnake by its other features besides the rattle - the pattern, the body shape, and the shape of the head.

There are stories circulating that rattlesnakes are evolving and losing their rattles because they no longer use them due to the fact that it's safer for them to remain silent around humans, but here's no real proof that this is happening. Here's more information about that.
This Los Angeles County adult rattlesnake has no rattle. It appears to have been lost in a very old injury since the stump is well healed. The snake shakes its tail as if it still has the rattle, although it seems to rely more on other threat displays like hissing and defensive postures. © Zeev Nitzan Ginsburg
       
Unusual or Interesting Color and Pattern Variations
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Melanistic patternless adult, Riverside County.
© Tony Covell
Melanistic Adult, Ventura County
© Patrick Briggs
Melanistic adult, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County
© Lori Paul. This snake had a completely dark belly.
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Young albino found dead on a road in Orange County. © Mike Pecora

Warning - If you click on the image on the left you'll see the entire snake, but there is some blood and lots of ants.
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Firefighter paramedic Chris Sperber and firefighter specialist Daniel Craig were called out to Newhall in Los Angeles County at midnight to help someone deal with a snake that was found in a bathroom next to a pool. This beautiful patternless and dark striped rattlesnake is what they found and caught. The snake was killed, following LA County Fire Departent policy, which explains why the head is missing. Photos © Ray Ortiz LACoFD.
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This unusual striped neonate was found in early October in coastal San Diego County. © Eric Quinn Pale juvenile, Orange County © Steve Bledsoe Hypomelanistic adult, San Diego County. © Bryce Anderson
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Adult, San Bernardino Mountains, San Bernardino County © Stuart Williams.
This snake is ready to shed its skin, called being "in the blue," and it actually shows some blue coloring on the head and lower sides.
Black  adult, Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles County
© Colin Byrne.
Black Southern Pacific rattlesnakes are not uncommon in southern California mountains.
Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes that are almost entirely dark in color such as these occur around Southern California but they seem to be prevalent around Idyllwyld on Mount San Jacinto.
Adult hiding in pine needles, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County,
© Douglas Brown
Adult, near Idylwyld, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County
© Kim Orta & Adrian Sotomayor
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Adult with green and pink coloring,
San Diego County. © Bryce Anderson
Intergrade with C. o. oreganus, Santa Barbara County © Benjamin German    
       
Breeding Season Behavior

Male "Combat Dance"
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Two adult males wrestling for dominance on March 11th in Los Angeles County (the smaller yellower one won.) © Robert Hamilton
Watch a YouTube Video of these snakes.
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Males doing a "Combat Dance,"
Ventura County © 2006 Steve Broggie
This short video shows two males wrestling for dominance over a female snake that is probably hiding nearby during the May breeding season, in Orange County. © Paul Galvin
Robert Hamilton's YouTube Video of two males wrestling for dominance. A short video of a pair of male Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes wrestling over a mate in Los Angeles County.
 
Breeding Pairs
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Adult male and adult female mating in March in San Diego County.
© Steve Bledsoe
A pair of breeding adults,
Orange County © Brian Nann
Pair of breeding adults exactly as found underneath a board in March in San Diego County grassland.
     
Feeding
southern pacific rattlesnake southern pacific rattlesnake southern pacific rattlesnake Great Basin Gopher Snake
Adult eating a squirrel near Idyllwild, Riverside County. This snake was fortunate to live under the deck of a building inhabited by biologists who carefully tolerated its presence and watched it emerge to take advantage of squirrels that fed beneath a bird feeder
© 2006 Sheri Lubin
Juvenile eating a Great Basin Fence Lizard in San Diego County
© Andrew Klotz
This juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake was observed in Los Angeles County eating a Western Side-blotched Lizard that had been killed on a trail and was dead for some time before it was found by the snake, which took advantage of a free meal.
© Mark Rothenay
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Adult eating a rat on an Orange County hiking trail (left)
and what it looks like afterwards (right)
© Fred Booth
   
       
Predation
California Kingsnake California Kingsnake California Kingsnake California Kingsnake
California Kingsnakes eat snakes along with other animals. They are immune to rattlesnake venom, so they
sometimes eat rattlesnakes. This one is eating a juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake. © Kimberly Deutsch
This California Kingsnake is almost finished eating a juvenile Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.   © Michele Coughlin
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A California Striped Racer - Coluber lateralis lateralis, eating a juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in Los Angeles County. © Anthony
This Sierra Mountain Kingsnake is eating a juvenile
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
, © Patrick Briggs
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A California Kingsnake eating a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in Orange County © Ed Smith

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California Kingsnake eating a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in Los Angeles County © Chris DeGroof

 
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This California Kingsnake was discovered eating a juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in the Los Padres Mountains, Santa Barbara County
© Benjamin Bruno
A Red Racer eats a juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in Riverside County © Steven Elliott  
       
How to Tell the Difference Between Rattlesnakes and Gophersnakes
Gopher Snake Rattlesnake Comparison Sign sign Gopher Snake Rattlesnake Comparison Sign Gopher Snake Rattlesnake Comparison Sign
Harmless and beneficial gophersnakes are sometimes mistaken for dangerous rattlesnakes. Gophersnakes are often killed unnecessarily because of this confusion.
(It's also not necessary to kill every rattlesnake.)

It is easy to avoid this mistake by learning to tell the difference between the two families of snakes. The informational signs shown above can help to educate you about these differences. (Click to enlarge).

If you can't see enough detail on a snake to be sure it is not a rattlesnake or if you have any doubt that it is harmless, leave it alone.
You should never handle a snake unless you are absolutely sure that it is not dangerous.

   
Habitat
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Habitat, San Gabriel Mountains,
Los Angeles County
Habitat, San Diego County
coastal scrub
Habitat, Carlsbad, coastal
San Diego County.
(This location was bulldozed and developed a few years later.)
Habitat, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County
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Habitat, coastal Riverside County Coastal San Diego County grassland habitat that is rapidly disappearing due to development. © Brian Hinds Habitat, riparian canyon,
Los Angeles County
Den habitat, Los Angeles County
© Koby Poulton
southern pacific rattlesnake habitat southern pacific rattlesnake habitat Great Basin Fence Lizard Habitat southern pacific rattlesnake
Habitat, Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles County © Colin Byrne Habitat, Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles County © Colin Byrne Habitat, Santa Ana Mountains,
Riverside County
Snake in habitat, near La Jolla, San Diego County, about 1/3 mile from the beach.
       
Short Video and Sounds of Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes
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A Southern Pacific Rattlesnake poses and rattles and crawls away at night in Los Angeles County. A short video of two males wrestling for dominance over a female snake that is probably hiding nearby during the May breeding season, in Orange County.
© Paul Galvin
Robert Hamilton's YouTube Video of two males wrestling for dominance. A pair of male Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes wrestle over a mate in Los Angeles County.
speaker

     
Listen to the rattling of a captive adult (shown above) courtesy of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. © Jeff Rice / Western Soundscape Archive Not to be used without permission.
     
       
 
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San Diego County park warning sign.
Sign at Santa Barbara
County rest area
Sign in San Gabriel Mountains Click on the picture to see more
rattlesnake signs.
       

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.

"Rattlesnakes are also among the most reasonable forms of dangerous wildlife: their first line of defense is to remain motionless; if you surprise them or cut off their retreat, they offer an audio warning; if you get too close, they head for cover. Venom is intended for prey so they're reluctant to bite, and 25 to 50 percent of all bites are dry - no venom is injected."   Leslie Anthony. Snakebit: Confessions of a Herpetologist. Greystone Books, 2008.

Rattlesnakes are typically described as poisonous, but they are actually venomous.
A poisonous snake is one that is harmful to touch or eat. A venomous snake injects dangerous venom into its victim.

A bite from a rattlesnake can be extremely dangerous, but rattlesnakes should not be characterized as aggressive and vicious, striking and biting without provocation, as they are often shown. If rattlesnakes are given some space and enough time to escape to a safe place, they will usually just crawl away as fast as possible to avoid confrontation. Rattlesnakes will not strike without a reason: they will strike at a potential meal and they will defend themselves from anything they perceive as dangerous. They avoid striking and biting because it uses up their valuable supply of venom which they need to kill and digest their food.

Rattlesnakes are often portrayed with the body partly coiled, the tail rattling loudly, and the head raised up and ready to strike, but they do not need to coil up this way to strike and bite. This display is a warning not to come any closer. It's a defensive behavior that some rattlesnakes use when they sense that crawling away would put them in danger of attack.

Rattlesnakes do not always rattle a warning. Sometimes they rattle loudly to warn potential enemies of their presence, but other times they remain silent when they sense a threat, choosing to remain still to rely on their cryptic color and pattern to let them blend into their surroundings to hide from the threat. Making a noise in this situation risks advertising their presence. They also use their natural camouflage to hunt by sitting still, without rattling, trying to remain invisible as they wait for a warm-blooded prey animal to pass close enough to strike.

Description

Dangerously Venomous


A bite from this snake can cause death or serious illness or injury in humans that may require immediate medical care.

(Commonly called a "poisonous" snake to indicate that its bite is dangerous, but that is not correct. It should be called a "venomous" snake. A poisonous snake can harm you if you eat it. A venomous snake can harm you if it bites you.)

Size
Adults 30 - 44 inches long, sometimes up to 54 inches.
Neonates are about 10.5 inches in length (27 cm) (Bartlett, 2009).

Appearance
A heavy-bodied pit viper, with a thin neck, a large triangular head, and a rattle on the end of the tail consisting of loose interlocking hollow segments. 
A new rattle segment is added each time the skin is shed, which can be more than one time per year.
Pupils are elliptical.
Scales are keeled.

Rattlesnakes are "pit vipers" which means they have two pits that are used to sense heat when hunting warm-blooded prey - with one pit on each side of the front of the head above the mouth.
Color and Pattern
Ground color is brown to olive-brown.
Dark brown blotches, completely outlined by light pigment, mark the back.
These blotches turn to bars toward the tail, which is surrounded with dark rings.
The last tail ring is not well-defined and is more than twice the width of the other rings.
The underside is pale, sometimes weakly mottled.
Young
Young are born with a bright yellow tail with no rattle - just a single button which does not make a sound. They grow rattles and lose the yellow color as they age.
The pattern is brighter on juveniles than on adults.
Similar Snakes
Sympatric with other species of rattlesnakes - Crotalus ruber, Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus, and Crotalus scutulatus on the lower northern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains. Two other subspecies of this species also occur in California.
Notes on identifying subspecies of Western Rattlesnakes, Crotalus oreganus, found in California.

Life History and Behavior

Activity
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.

Radiotelemetry studies have shown that the home range of male snakes is larger than that of females.
Fangs and Venom
Two large hollow movable fangs are located at the front of the upper jaw are folded backwards when not used. The fangs are connected to venom glands so that when the snake bites, the fangs swing forward rapidly to stab the prey and inject a toxic venom that quickly immobilizes the prey. A rattlesnake can control the amount of venom injected. The fangs can be replaced if broken.

Bites that inject venom into humans are potentially dangerous without immediate medical treatment.
Sometimes a rattlesnake bites but does not inject venom. These are called "dry bites." A dry bite may still require medical attention.
Even a dead snake can bite and inject venom if the jaws open and close reflexively when they are touched.

A bite from any kind of rattlesnake of any age or any size should be treated as a serious medical emergency, but the bite of a juvenile rattlesnake is not more dangerous than the bite of an adult.
Experts disagree whether or not juvenile rattlesnake venom is more potent than adult rattlesnake venom, but this does not really make much difference in the severity of a bite.
While adult rattlesnakes can control the amount of venom they inject depending on their needs (small animals need less venom, a defensive or warning bite may need no venom, etc.), it is often assumed that juvenile rattlesnakes do not have the same ability and that they always inject the full amount of venom they have available. Some studies show this is not true. There is also no proof that adult rattlesnakes are more likely than juveniles to bite without injecting venom when they are biting as a warning. Regardless of these things, adults have far more venom to inject than juveniles so the potential danger from the bite of an adult is significantly higher than the danger from the bite of a juvenile. Even when an adult does not inject the full amount of venom it has available, it most likely injects more venom than a juvenile would inject.

Venomous snakes are immune to the venom of their own species, so if a snake is bitten during interactions with other snakes of its species during territorial fights or during mating or if it accidentally bites itself, it will not suffer from the venom. However, they are not typically immune to the venom of other species of snakes.

Apparently not all Southern Pacific Rattlesakes have the same type of venom, and this has been found in other species, also.
National Geographic 1/27/14
Sunagar, Undheim, Scheib, Gren, Cochran, Person, Koludarov, Kelln, Hayes, King, Antunes & Fry. 2014. Intraspecific venom variation in the medically significant Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri): Biodiscovery, clinical and evolutionary implicationsJournal of Proteomics. 2014.
Sound - The Rattle
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.

A new rattle segment is added each time the skin is shed, which can be more than one time per year.
Diet and Feeding
Eats birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, insects, and small mammals, including mice, rats, rabbits, hares, and ground squirrels. (Adult California Ground Squirrels are immune to rattlesnake venom and will intensely confront any snake they feel to be a threat.)

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.

Pits on the sides of the head sense heat. These heat sensors help the snake to locate warm-blooded prey by their temperature.
Perception
rattlesnake perception

Click on this picture to see an illustrated interpretation of the various ways pit vipers (including rattlesnakes) perceive their prey, using their eyes, their sense of smell, their ability to detect vibrations, and their ability to sense heat.
© Frank Buchter
Reproduction
Rattlesnakes are ovoviviparous or live-bearing. The mother keeps her fertilized eggs inside her body and gives birth to living young.
Mating typically occurs in the spring. Males search extensively for females during the mating season.
Females probably start bearing young at three years of age and breed annually. (Klauber, 1982)
An average litter consists of 4 to 12 young which are born from August to October. (Stebbins & McGinnis, 2013)
Neonates are about 10.5 inches in length (27 cm) (Bartlett, 2009).


Male "Combat Dance"

Adult males engage in a ritual "Combat Dance" during the spring breeding season and at other times. Throughout much of history this activity was presumed to be a mating male and female instead of two competing males. Despite the common name, it is not combat as neither male is injured. And it's not a dance, it's essentially a wrestling match in which necks and forebodies are intertwined, with the stronger snake slamming the smaller one to the ground until the weaker snake leaves the area. Most bouts end in a draw.
"Certainly the presence of a female is not necessary to stimulate males to dance."
"Dancing is not restricted to a single season of the year."
(Klauber, 1982)

Santa Catalina Island Behavioral Differences

A 2024 study concludes that Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes on Santa Catalina Island have learned to be more agressive than their mainland to protect themselves from non-native animals, such as feral dogs and cats, deer, bison, and feral pigs: "...an insular population of southern Pacific rattlesnakes exhibits paradoxically increased defensiveness relative to mainland conspecifics, and we have attributed it to human introductions of non-native mammalian predators and antagonists." "...by introducing mammalian predators and antagonists to Catalina, humans have made encounters with the rattlesnakes more dangerous...."

(Hayes, W.K.; Person, C.E.; Fox, G.A.; King, J.L.; Briggs, E.; Gren, E.C.K. Paradoxical Exception to Island Tameness: Increased Defensiveness in an Insular Population of Rattlesnakes. Toxins 2024, 16, 157. Published: 18 March 2024)

Habitat
Found in a wide range of habitats from seaside dunes, to desert scrub, grassy plains, rocky hillsides, chaparral, open woodlands, and agricultural areas.

Geographical Range
The species Crotalus oreganus - Western Rattlesnake, occurs from the Pacific Coast of northern Baja California north through most of California except the southern deserts, through Oregon and eastern Washington into British Columbia, Canada, and east into Idaho, Nevada, Utah, southwestern Wyoming, western Colorado,and northern Arizona.

This subspecies, Crotalus oreganus helleri - Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, is found in California from Santa Barbara County, where there is a wide zone of intergradation with the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake north to around Morro Bay, east to the central valley and the desert slopes of the transverse and peninsular ranges, and south into the middle of the Baja California peninsula. Ranges north of the transverse ranges into the Mojave Desert in the Antelope Valley and just south of Barstow. Also found on Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands.

A resident population was confirmed as present in extreme southwest Imperial County in the Valley of the Moon in 2022.
[Ethan G. Statts et al, Herp Review 53(4), 2022]

Known to hybridize with the Northern Mohave Rattlesnake where their ranges overlap in western Antelope Valley. (Stebbins, 2003)



Full Species Range Map
Elevational Range
Crotalus viridis [oreganus] has been found from sea level to around 11,000 ft. (3,350 m.) (Stebbins, 2003)

In 2010, a new elevation record for C. oreganus (lutosus) was documented at 12,112 ft. (3962 m.) Wheeler Peak, Great Basin National Park, White Pine County, Nevada. (Herpetological Review 41(1), 2010)

Notes on Taxonomy
The taxonomy of Western Rattlesnakes is controversial with several different theories. Some of these theories recommend making the three subspecies found in California full species, but this has not been widely accepted. Instead, most authorities seem to favor the split of the Western Rattlesnake species Crotalus viridis into two species - Crotalus viridis, and Crotalus oreganus.

Some authorities still use the former species name Crotalus viridis, recognizing the subspecies covered on this page as Crotalus viridis helleri.


A study published in February 2016* used head shapes and genetic analyses to determine that there are 6 full species of western rattlesnakes found in the former Crotalus viridis complex and suggested the following names, with the three species found in California shown here at the top of the list.
If this taxonomy is accepted, the ranges and common names of western rattlesnakes found in California will remain the same, but they will be full species instead of subspecies.

Crotalus helleri - Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
Crotalus lutosus - Geat Basin Rattlesnake
Crotalus oreganus - Northern Pacific Rattlesnake

Crotalus cerberus
- Arizona Black Rattlesnake
Crotalus concolor - Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Crotalus viridis - Prairie Rattlesnake


* Mark A. Davis, Marlis R. Douglas, Michael L. Collyer, Michael E. Douglas. Correction: Deconstructing a Species-Complex: Geometric Morphometric and Molecular Analyses Define Species in the Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). PLOS ONE, 2016; 11 (2): e0149712 DOI:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0149712)

A 2002 study** split the Western Rattlesnake species Crotalus viridis into 7 distinct species:

Crotalus oreganus oreganus
becomes Crotalus oreganus
Crotalus oreganus helleri
becomes Crotalus helleri
Crotalus oreganus lutosus
becomes Crotalus lutosus

Crotalys abyssus
Crotalus cerberus
Crotalus concolor
Crotalus viridis


The common names remain the same.

** Douglas, Douglas, Schuett, Porras, & Holycross
[2002. Phylogeography of the Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) Complex, With Emphasis on the Colorado Plateau]. Pp. 11-50. In Biology of the Vipers [Schuett, Höggren, Douglas, and Greene (editors). Eagle Mountain Publishing, Eagle Mountain, Utah]


Some naturalists believe that rattlesnakes on Santa Catalina Island are distinct from those on the mainland and will be recognized as a different subspecies once DNA studies are completed.  LA Times Article 11/28/09


Alternate and Previous Names (Synonyms)

Timber Rattlesnake (It is not uncommon for a rattlesnake found in a forested area in California to be called a Timber Rattlesnake. The true Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is not found in California. It occurs from southeast Minnesota down to central Texas and east to northern Florida up to south-central New Hampshire.)

Crotalus oreganus helleri - Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Stebbins & McGinnis 2012, SSAR 2012)
Crotalus viridis helleri - Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Wright & Wright 1957, Stebbins 1966, 1985, Klauber 1982, 2003)
Crotalus viridis helleri (Stebbins 1954)
Crotalus viridis helleri - Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Klauber 1949)
Crotalus oreganus - Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus lucifer; Crotalus confluentus; Crotalus lecontei, part; Crotalus ruber, part; Crotalus adamanteus var. lucifer; Crotalus oreganus var. lucifer; Crotalus confluentus lucifer; Caudisona lucifer; Crotalus Hallowelli; Crotalus adamanteus atrox, part. Black Rattlesnake; California Rattlesnake; Arizona Diamond Rattlesnake, part; Confluent Rattlesnake; Oregon Rattlesnake; Missouri Rattlesnake; Hallowell's Rattlesnake; Southern Rattlesnake) (Grinnell and Camp 1917)
Crotalus viridis helleri (Meek, 1905)
Crotalus viridis (Rafinesque 1818)

Conservation Issues  (Conservation Status)
None
Taxonomy
Family Viperidae Vipers Crotalidae - Pitvipers
Genus Crotalus Rattlesnakes Linnaeus, 1758
Species oreganus Western Rattlesnake Holbrook, 1840
Subspecies

helleri Southern Pacific Rattlesnake Meek, 1905
Original Description
Crotalus viridis - Rafinesque, 1818 - Amer. Month. Mag. Crit. Rev., Vol. 4, No. 1, Nov. p. 41
Crotalus viridis helleri - Meek, 1905 - Field Columb. Mus. Publ. Zool., Vol. 7, p. 17

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
oreganus
- belonging to the state of Oregon - referring to the type locality, "banks of Oregon or Columbia River"
helleri - honors Heller, Edmund

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

Related or Similar California Snakes
C. o. lutosus - Great Basin Rattlesnake
C. o. oreganus - Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
C. ruber - Red Diamond Rattlesnake
C. atrox - Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake
C. s. scutulatus - Northern Mohave Rattlesnake
C. c. laterorepens - Colorado Desert Sidewinder

More Information and References
California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Living With Rattlesnakes

California Department of Fish and Wildlife: Rattlesnakes in California

University of California: Rattlesnakes Management Guide

Florida Museum of Natural History: How to Safely Coexist With Snakes

The Tucson Herpetological Society: Living With Venomous Reptiles

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: Living With Snakes

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Venomous Snakes

Anapsid.org: Melissa Kaplan's Rattlesnake Information Page

Southwestern Field Herping Association: Venomous Snake Safety


Snake Bites


California Poison Control System (search for "rattlesnake bite")

UCI Health - What to do if you're bitten by a rattlesnake

Snakebite Safety! How to Effectively Avoid, Identify, and Treat a Snake Bite (Includes all of the U.S.A.)

Don't Use Snakebite Suction Devices :
Snakebite Suction Devices Don't Remove Venom: They Just Suck
(Sean P. Bush, MD - Annals Of Emergency Medicine 43:2 pages 187-188 February 2004.)

Bay Nature Magazine - Are Baby Rattlesnakes the Most Dangerous Biters?

The Amazing Story of Andy Cat - a very lucky pet cat who was bitten by a rattlesnake and survived, thanks to the smart actions of its owners.

Wickipedia List of Fatal Snake Bites in the United States

Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M.  Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012.

Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972.

Flaxington, William C. Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Field Observations, Distribution, and Natural History. Fieldnotes Press, Anaheim, California, 2021.

Samuel M. McGinnis and Robert C. Stebbins. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles & Amphibians. 4th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018.

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

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

Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.

Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Snakes of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.

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

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

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

Taylor, Emily. California Snakes and How to Find Them. Heyday, Berkeley, California. 2024.

Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press, 1957.

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

Hayes, William K., Kent R. Beaman, Michael D. Cardwell, and Sean P. Bush, editors. The Biology of Rattlesnakes. Loma Linda University Press, 2009.

Hubbs, Brian R., & Brendan O'Connor. A Guide to the Rattlesnakes and other Venomous Serpents of the United States. Tricolor Books, 2011.

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.

Rubio, Manny. Rattlesnake - Portrait of a Predator. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.

Walls, Jerry G. Rattlesnakes: Their Natural History and Care. T. F. H. Publications, Inc., 1996.

Eric A. Dugan, Alex Figueroa, and William K. Hayes. Home Range Size, Movements, and Mating Phenology of Sympatric Red Diamond (Crotalus ruber) and Southern Pacific (C. oreganus helleri) Rattlesnakes in Southern California. Pp. 353-364 in W. K. Hayes, K. R. Beaman, M. D. Cardwell, and S. P. Bush (eds.), The Biology of Rattlesnakes. Loma Linda University Press. 2008.

Joseph Grinnell and Charles Lewis Camp. A Distributional List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of California. University of California Publications in Zoology Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 127-208. July 11, 1917.


Conservation Status

The following conservation status listings for this animal are taken from the April 2024 State of California Special Animals List and the April 2024 Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California list (unless indicated otherwise below.) Both lists are produced by multiple agencies every year, and sometimes more than once per year, so the conservation status listing information found below might not be from the most recent lists. To make sure you are seeing the most recent listings, go to this California Department of Fish and Wildlife web page where you can search for and download both lists:
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CNDDB/Plants-and-Animals.

A detailed explanation of the meaning of the status listing symbols can be found at the beginning of the two lists. For quick reference, I have included them on my Special Status Information page.

If no status is listed here, the animal is not included on either list. This most likely indicates that there are no serious conservation concerns for the animal. To find out more about an animal's status you can also go to the NatureServe and IUCN websites to check their rankings.

Check the current California Department of Fish and Wildlife sport fishing regulations to find out if this animal can be legally pursued and handled or collected with possession of a current fishing license. You can also look at the summary of the sport fishing regulations as they apply only to reptiles and amphibians that has been made for this website.



Organization Status Listing  Notes
NatureServe Global Ranking
NatureServe State Ranking
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA) None
California Department of Fish and Wildlife None
Bureau of Land Management None
USDA Forest Service None
IUCN


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