A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

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California Rattlesnakes

Living with
Rattlesnakes

Rattlesnakes
Sounds and Video

Rattlesnake
Signs and Art

A Rattlesnake Rattle

Click on the picture to listen to
what it sounds like when a rattlesnake shakes its tail.

Rarely, when the end of its tail is removed in an unusual event, a rattlesnake will not have any rattles.

All rattlesnakes in California are venomous and potentially dangerous. (Commonly called poisonous) A bite by any rattlesnake can be very dangerous without immediate medical treatment. Treatment can require hospitalization and great expense.
There are 7 different species of rattlesnakes found in California. Two of these species are made up of more than one subspecies. This makes a total of 10 different forms of rattlesnakes found in the state. All rattlesnakes in California have a blotched pattern on the back and a rattle on the end of the tail which is often used as a warning sound. (The rattle is missing on newborn rattlesnakes and may be broken off on adults, so don't automatically assume that a snake with no rattle is not a rattlesnake.) There are also several species of snakes that are sometimes mistaken for rattlesnakes because they have somewhat similar patterns to the untrained eye, or because they flatten their head into a triangular shape or shake the tip of their tail when they're feeling defensive.
To identify the species of rattlesnake you have seen, look for a picture that is similar to the snake you want to identify, clicking on it to enlarge it if necessary. Read the brief descriptions of behavior and habitat, and if it fits your snake's appearance, click on the link to continue your search. All of these forms of rattlesnakes can vary in appearance, so if you don't see one here that looks like the rattlesnake you want to identify, check the range maps to see which species of rattlesnakes occur in your area, then look at the pictures found on the page for each individual snake.
California Rattlesnakes
Forms	Genus, Species, Subspecies	Common Names
	Family Viperidae	Vipers
	Genus Crotalus	Rattlesnakes	Linnaeus, 1758
1	Crotalus atrox	Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake	Baird and Girard, 1853
	Crotalus cerastes	Sidewinder	Hallowell, 1854
2	Crotalus cerastes cerastes	Mohave Desert Sidewinder	Hallowell, 1854
3	Crotalus cerastes laterorepens	Colorado Desert Sidewinder	Klauber, 1944
	Crotalus oreganus	Western Rattlesnake	Holbrook, 1840
4	Crotalus oreganus helleri	Southern Pacific Rattlesnake	Meek, 1905	Crotalus helleri
5	Crotalus oreganus lutosus	Great Basin Rattlesnake	Klauber, 1930	Crotalus lutosus
6	Crotalus oreganus oreganus	Northern Pacific Rattlesnake	Holbrook, 1840	Crotalus oreganus
7	Crotalus pyrrhus	Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake	(Cope, 1867 “1866”)
8	Crotalus ruber	Red Diamond Rattlesnake	Cope, 1892
	Crotalus scutulatus	Mojave Rattlesnake	(Kennicott, 1861)
9	Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus	Northern Mohave Rattlesnake	(Kennicott, 1861)
10	Crotalus stephensi	Panamint Rattlesnake	Klauber, 1930

1. Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake A large rattlesnake, found in the southern deserts in the southeast corner of the state. This rattlesnake has black and white rings around the tail. The rings are about equal in width. Active day and night. Notes on distinguishing this species from the similar Northern Mohave Rattlesnake. Notes on distinguishing this species from the similar Red Diamond Rattlesnake.


Sidewinders Small rattlesnakes with unique sideways locomotion. Found in open sandy areas in the southern deserts. Active at night and sometimes during the day. A small horn-like projection is visible above each eye.

2. Mohave Desert Sidewinder

		3. Colorado Desert Sidewinder

Western Rattlesnakes The most commonly seen rattlesnake in California, found throughout the state, except the southern deserts. Active day and night. Often seen while hiking in undisturbed areas, or on roads at night. These rattlesnakes do not have black and white rings around the tail. They may have dark and light rings, but not black and white. Notes on identifying the three subspecies of Western Rattlesnakes, Crotalus oreganus, found in California

4. Southern Pacific Rattlesnake

5. Great Basin Rattlesnake

6. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake

7. Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake A large rattlesnake, found mainly in rocky areas in the southern deserts and south coast. Saddled pattern on adults appears slightly faded, not distinctly outlined, unlike other rattlesnakes in its range. Color changes to match the rocks in its habitat. Active at night and day. Notes on distinguishing this species from the similar Panamint Rattlesnake


8. Red Diamond Rattlesnake A large rattlesnake, found in the Colorado desert and south coastal region. Active day and night. Color is various shades of reddish brown. Notes on distinguishing this species from the similar Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake


9. Northern Mohave Rattlesnake A large rattlesnake found in the Mohave Desert. Active at night, and sometimes during the day. This rattlesnake has black and white rings around the tail. The black bands are smaller than the white bands. Notes on distinguishing this species from the similar Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake


10. Panamint Rattlesnake A large rattlesnake, found mainly in rocky areas in the northern and eastern Mohave Desert. Saddled pattern on adults appears slightly faded, not distinctly outlined, unlike other rattlesnakes in its range. Color changes to match the rocks in its habitat. Active at night and day. Notes on distinguishing this species from the similar Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake


Range Maps of Rattlesnakes in California

	Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake		Sidewinder - Crotalus cerastes
	1. Red: Crotalus atrox		2. Red: Crotalus cerastes cerastes - Mohave Desert Sidewinder 3. Orange: Crotalus cerastes laterorepens - Colorado Desert Sidewinder

	Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake		Western Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus (viridis)
	4. Red: Crotalus pyrrhus (Orange = Crotalus stephensi, formerly thought to be the same species)		5. Blue: Crotalus oreganus helleri Southern Pacific Rattlesnake 6. Orange: Crotalus oreganus lutosus Great Basin Rattlesnake 7. Red: Crotalus oreganus oreganus Northern Pacific Rattlesnake

	Red Diamond Rattlesnake		Northern Mohave Rattlesnake
	8. Red: Crotalus ruber		9. Red: Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus

	Panamint Rattlesnake
	10. Orange: Crotalus stephensi (Red = Crotalus pyrrhus, formerly thought to be the same species)
Frank Buchter contributed this chart to help identify rattlesnakes in California. (This chart does not include sidewinders. It also omits Crotalus oreganus lutosus, and after after it was made, Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus was changed to Crotalus pyrhus.)
Recognizing the Differences Between Rattlesnakes and Gopher Snakes

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.
California Snakes with a Blotched Pattern that are Sometimes Mistaken for Rattlesnakes

	Gophersnakes

	Pacific Gophersnake		San Diego Gophersnake

	Great Basin Gophersnake	Great Basin Gophersnake © Noah Morales	Sonoran Gophersnake

		Santa Cruz Island Gophersnake

	Glossy Snakes

	Desert Glossy Snake		California Glossy Snake	Mohave Glossy Snake

	Lyresnakes

	Sonoran Lyresnake		California Lyresnake

	Nightsnakes

	San Diego Nightsnake	San Diego Nightsnake © Douglas Brown	Desert Nightsnake

		California Nightsnake

	Juvenile Western Yellow-bellied Racer

		Juvenile Western Yellow-Bellied Racer




	"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.

More Information About Rattlesnakes
	Living With Rattlesnakes	Rattlesnake Signs and Art	Rattlesnake Sounds

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