Crotalus scutulatus
May 14, 2022: Night driving on Kelbaker Road, Mojave Desert
During a night drive on our last night in the desert, after about 45 minutes, no one in any of the vans had seen any reptiles, and I think people were a bit discouraged and tired, and we all decided that we’d turn around and head back to the Desert Studies Center. As we were making our way back, one of my students called out that she thought she’d seen something unusual in the road. We backed up, and sure enough, there was something “unusual” in the road: A Mojave green rattlesnake!!!! This is always one of the hoped-for species on this trip, and this snake did not disappoint. We phoned the other two vans to let them know about the snake, and they turned around to meet us.
This is one of the more venomous snakes (considered the deadliest in North America), so it was amazing to be able to see one up close like this. We double-checked Stebbins to make sure we had the ID correct (we did). It was on a smallish side for this species, but so, so, so, so pretty. This was really a magnificent sighting.
Let me know what you think!