 Range in California: Green
Red: Mojave Desert Sidewinder
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Venomous and Potentially Dangerous!
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| Adult, Imperial County |
Adult, Imperial County |
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Adult, San Diego County |
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Adult, San Diego County |
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Adult, Imperial County |
Close-up showing "horns"
above the eyes |
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Adult, San Diego County
© Patrick Briggs |
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Habitat, Imperial County |
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Habitat, Imperial County
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Habitat, Riverside County
© Patrick Briggs |
Habitat, San Diego County |
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California park warning sign.
Click the picture to see more
rattlesnake signs. |
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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.
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| Short Video |
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A Colorado Desert sidewinder crawls with its unique sideways locomotion.
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Description |
| Venomous |
| The venom of this snake is potentially dangerous to humans. |
| Size |
| Adults are 17 - 33 inches. (43 - 84 cm). Snakes encountered will generally be 12 - 18 inches. Juveniles are about 7 inches at birth. |
| Appearance |
A heavy-bodied, venomous pit viper, with a thin neck and a large triangular head. Pupils are elliptical. Scales are keeled. A dark eye stripe and a pointed and upturened horn-like scale above each eye. These horns may fold down over the eyes to protect them when the snakes is crawling in burrows.
Pale cream, tan, brown, pink, or grayish back color usually closely matches the soil surface allowing the snake to blend in with the background. Around 40 darker blotches on the back.
A thick tail with a rattle, consisting of loose interlocking segments, at the end. A new rattle segment is added each time the skin is shed. Newborn snakes do not have a rattle - just a single button which does not make a sound. The segment of the rattle closest to the body on an adult snake is black. The Mojave Desert Sidewinder has a brown segment. 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 toxic venom which quickly immobilize the prey. The snake can control the amount of venom injected and the fangs are replaced if broken. Though the amount of venom a sidewinder injects is relatively small and rarely deadly, bites on humans are potentially dangerous. Even a dead snake can bite and inject venom if the jaws open reflexively 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.
An ambush hunter, it sits buried beneath the surface of loose sand with just the top of the head showing, near kangaroo rat warrens, and lizard or rodent trails, then strikes at and releases the 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.
Moves with a sidewinding locomotion, throwing raised loops of the body to the side to push itself forward in an s-sheped curve. A sidewinders trail looks like a series of parallel j-shaped lines pointing roughly 45 degrees from the direction of movement. |
| Diet |
| Eats mainly lizards when young, and increasingly larger prey including small rodents when grown. |
| Reproduction |
| Live-bearing. Young are born late summer to mid-autumn. |
| Range |
| Found in southeastern California - roughly south of the San Bernardino County line and west to the slopes of the peninsular ranges - south into Baja California, east into southwestern Arizona. |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits primarily areas of wind-blown sands, especially where sand hummocks are topped withvegetation. Also found in hardpan, open flats, rocky hillsides, and other desert areas, especially those grown with creosote bush, where the terrain is open, not obstructed by rocks or vegetation, allowing the broad sidewinding locomotion. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Viperidae |
Vipers |
| Genus |
Crotalus |
Rattlesnakes |
| Species |
cerastes |
Sidewinder |
Subspecies
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laterorepens |
Colorado Desert Sidewinder |
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Original Description |
Crotalus cerastes - Hallowell, 1854 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 7, p. 95
Crotalus cerastes laterorepens - Klauber, 1944 - Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 10, p. 94, fig. 2, map
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Crotalus - Greek - krotalon - a rattle - refers to the rattle on the tail
cerastes - Greek - kerastes - horned - referring to the "horns" on head
laterorepens - Latin - later - side and repens - creeping or crawling - refers to the curious style of "sidewinder" locomotion
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
None
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
C. c. cerastes - Mohave Desert Sidewinder
C. s. scutulatus - Northern Mohave Rattlesnake
C. atrox - Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake
C. ruber - Red Diamond Rattlesnake
C. m. pyrrhus -Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake
C. o. helleri - Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
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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
University of California: Rattlesnakes Management Guide
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.
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.
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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.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
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| USDA Forest Service |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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Range in California: Green 
