Rattle Snake

Throughout the world there are many snakes whose venomous bite can be fatal to humans. However, in the United States there are only four -- the Coral Snake, the Copperhead, the Cottonmouth Water Moccasin and the Rattlesnake. The rattlesnake (genus Crotalus) is the only venomous snake native to California, but other venomous snakes make their home in the deserts of the American Southwest.

Description

Rattlesnakes come in 16 distinct varieties. There are numerous subspecies and color variations, but they are all positively identified by the jointed rattles on the tail. While most of the rattlers are concentrated in the southwestern United States, they extend north, east and south in diminishing numbers and varieties, so that every contiguous state has one or more varieties.

Range

The Pacific Rattlesnake is found throughout a variety of places in the California, from sea level on the Pacific Ocean, the inland prairies and desert areas, to the mountains at elevations of more than 10,000 feet.

Along the coast north of southern California, the Pacific Rattlesnake has the territory all to itself. In Southern California the Pacific rattler overlaps the range of several other species and subspecies, except that of the large Western Diamondback rattler along the Colorado River and the southeastern California deserts.

From Lake Tahoe north, on the east side of the Sierra, you might see the Great Basin rattler; from Tahoe south through Death Valley, the Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes) and Panamint rattlers; along the Colorado River, the Western Diamondback (Crotalus atrox); in the southwestern area, the Red Diamondback (Crotalus ruber) and Speckled (Crotalus mitchelli) rattlers; and in the Mojave Desert, both the Mojave Rattlesnake and the Sidewinder.

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