Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

General Palm Springs area.

Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby Perry » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:58 am

Is this normal? I had thought they only lived at higher elevations around here.
https://www.facebook.com/TheCoachellaVa ... 872874075/
Counting the days until October...
User avatar
Perry
Site Admin
 
Posts: 1518
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:01 pm
Location: Palm Springs, CA

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby halhiker » Thu Sep 06, 2018 2:11 am

I’ve seen them in the Indio Hills before and in Garner Valley. I thinks it’s pretty normal to see then in the low desert area.
User avatar
halhiker
 
Posts: 1260
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:00 pm
Location: La Quinta, CA

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby Perry » Thu Sep 06, 2018 10:57 am

Interesting. Has anybody seen the Speckled Rattlesnake near Palm Springs? I've only seen one Speckled at around 5,500 to 6,000 feet on Skyline. I've seen the Red Diamond snakes I believe at lower elevations in Palm Springs. This is based on rough memory as I was mostly trying to avoid the snakes rather than study them.

I found these low-resolution maps:

http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/m ... llimap.jpg

http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/m ... bermap.jpg

http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/m ... roxmap.jpg
Counting the days until October...
User avatar
Perry
Site Admin
 
Posts: 1518
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:01 pm
Location: Palm Springs, CA

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby Ellen » Thu Sep 06, 2018 5:16 pm

Howdy Grandmaster Perry :)

"This is based on rough memory as I was mostly trying to avoid the snakes rather than study them."

Thanks for the best laugh I've had today :lol:

Miles of smiles,
Ellen
Ellen
 
Posts: 2578
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:38 am
Location: Riverside, CA

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby guest » Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:31 am

Hey Perry,
They've actually become the most common sightings by myself, and some friends. I see them in Indian Cyns, PS footthills / Santa Rosa's, Snow Creek & JT. I still see some Red Diamonds, (very mellow), but haven't seen many of either above say 5k often.
My buds spotted a large Southern Pacific around Thomas Mt. a couple weeks ago, (never rattled, even when coxed to move off rd). These are the ones that seem to be hybridizing their venom.
If I knew how to post photos, I several of the Speckled. Sad thing re. rattlers, I rarely see an large old ones anymore, (w/ 6-10 rattles). I'm sure between poaching & killing for no good reason, contribute to this.
Nice video, btw. SS
guest
 
Posts: 781
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:27 pm

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby Pitownpi » Fri Sep 07, 2018 6:48 pm

here's the version of Southwestern Speckled we get out this way.
they vary accordingly with the surrounding....out here very light to match the rocks.
this ole dude lives behind my kitchen....he's about 10 plus rattles...seems his vision is poor!

i've seen them from 4000 to 7000 on the western side of the San Gorgonio wilderness mostly cause i never hike below 4000 ft....

ImageDa Beachmaster gets another one!
Pitownpi
 
Posts: 152
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 8:41 am

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby guest » Sat Sep 08, 2018 8:17 am

Nice photo Pitownpi,
It's always hard to believe these snakes can get doves & bunnies down! I mean there's some bone-crushing, & knashing of the "teeth", (plus the unhinging of their jaw), to make this happen.
Does anyone here spot the Western Diamondback, seems there's not that popular in the CV area, in my experience, (I'm sure there were lots more even 20-30 years ago?
ss
guest
 
Posts: 781
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:27 pm

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby Perry » Sat Sep 08, 2018 1:09 pm

Glad you enjoyed that Ellen. :)

SS, that was a video somebody else shared on Facebook. The drought years may have been reducing the snake population. From talking to people who have been here longer than me, it sounds like there were more snakes of all kinds back in the 80's and 90's. I've been here since 2002 and rarely see snakes, but a month ago I heard something rattle inside a bush and I'm pretty sure it wasn't a kid shaking a maraca. :)

I'm wondering if the Speckled Rattlesnake has been outcompeting the Red Diamond and Western in recent years. Somewhere I had read that some of the Speckled developed a neurotoxin, and if it is somehow more resistant to drought that would give it an advantage also.

Edit: Those news articles were "rubbish" according to a snake expert. See later posts in this thread.
Counting the days until October...
User avatar
Perry
Site Admin
 
Posts: 1518
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:01 pm
Location: Palm Springs, CA

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby Ed » Sat Sep 08, 2018 2:15 pm

Perry wrote:The drought years may have been reducing the snake population. From talking to people who have been here longer than me, it sounds like there were more snakes of all kinds back in the 80's and 90's. I've been here since 2002 and rarely see snakes, but a month ago I heard something rattle inside a bush and I'm pretty sure it wasn't a kid shaking a maraca.


I used to encounter rattlesnakes frequently. In my driveway, on my porch, on trails, etc. Took my dogs to rattlesnake aversion training, and still had one bitten on the nose. Had a number of trail disputes with them, particularly between Cowles Mountain and Pyles Peak in the San Diego area, and a particularly memorable dispute with one lurking in the brush on the Ontario Peak trail. Now I have not seen one in four or five years. But I still like to know someone is ahead of me on the trail, running interference, particularly in the dark. But perhaps that is a fallacy, perhaps the hiker preceding you stirs them up, rather than scaring them off.

I lived in Africa for two years. It was worse there. Two people I knew were returning from a faculty meeting one night to their bungalow, when one was bitten by a cobra, walking across a grassy meadow. Since there are a variety of poisonous snakes there, we had been told that it was important to kill the snake and take its head, so they knew what anti-venom to use. Jerry went back with a flashlight and cutlass (the term for machete there), cut the snake's head off and picked it up. Too soon, the severed head turned around and bit him. They drove about thirty miles to the nearest hospital. Jerry's arm was fine starting out, by the time they arrived at the hospital he was driving with one arm. The guy who took the original bite had to be hospitalized for some time. Jerry had a painful and lame arm for a while.
Ed
 
Posts: 824
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:04 pm
Location: San Diego Area

Re: Speckled Rattlesnake at Low Elevation

Postby guest » Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:58 am

Wow Ed, so the old chicken running around with no head thing does happen, very scary. So the head had enough nerve / muscles left to actually bite him?
That should scene could make for some a wlid scene in a horror flick. I know tissue damage can happen quicky, and most people take an hour or two to reach a hospital.

A saw a Fish & Game wardon get a glancing bite, as he put his billy-club, (too fat), behind the head of a small rattler, when he removed the club, the thing swung around & was barely able to break the skin,g but it made for a long ride to Blythe, from Cron Springs, (around Desert Ctr).
ss
guest
 
Posts: 781
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:27 pm

Next

Return to Mt. San Jacinto & Santa Rosa Mountains

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests