Sep 16, 2008

Rattlesnake on South Mountain - Phoenix, AZ

On my way up the Fire Road, about halfway up between Pima Canyon parking lot and the trailhead for National, I spotted good sized rattler just kicking it on the side of the road.

Its not like I see a snake around every bend of the trail, but I've seen quite a few this summer. I'm thinking this due to the abundance of rain this year, providing lots of tasty morsels for vipes to eat.

Update: Bigrigmig made a comment that the snake appears to be a Black-tailed Rattlesnake. It sounds like a good call to me. Now I know. Thanks Bigrigmig!

Here's a short clip of the Rattlesnake:

3 comments:

bigrigmig said...

Hey U2....

I see Western Diamondbacks all the time where I ride but that was not one. Any idea of the species?

I dig your blog.

BRM

bigrigmig said...

Never mind the species research- can't sleep so I looked it up.. You've got yourself a black tailed rattler. Doesn't get as big as the WD but still a cool shot of a healthy one of its kind.

u2metoo said...

Hey BRM,

Good eye! I think you are right.

It looked pretty much like the image on this site:
http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Snakes-Subpages/h-c-molossus.html


Thanks for the help!