Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Due east of Las Vegas, New Mexico, the southern Rocky Mountains drop off into the Great Plains. Yellow and brown grasses bend to the harsh winds that flow across the landscape daily. Although the grasslands seem to extend unobstructed for hundreds of miles, there is another dramatic change in the landscape, where grasslands give way to redrock canyons and low elevation desert. The change happens quickly, and along the eastward face of the canyons, one can see for dozens of miles into the harsh mesquite and juniper woodlands down below. At that transition, the distribution of many reptile species come together. On a warm afternoon in the spring of 2021, I drove my 1994 red Jeep Wrangler down one of the backroads that progressively descend from the grasslands to the deserts below. Along the edge of the old road, I noticed a large Western diamondback rattlesnake Crotalus atrox sunning itself. After I stopped and approached just outside of striking distance, the snake coiled and took up its signature striking pose. The snake was well over four feet in length, very thick and had a tail with many rattles. The beautiful white and black striping patterns along the tail and distinct diamonds along the extent of the snake’s body, give the identication away. You can see from the first video that although the snake took a defensive stance, it did everything it could to slither away backwards. The second video shows it crawl off into some shrubs and ponderosa pine along the face of a cliff.