Speckled Rattlesnake

• Scientific Name: Crotalus Mitchellii
• Common Name: Speckled Rattlesnake
• Description: Identification: 23 - 52 in. (58-132 cm). Color of dorsum varies greatly - cream, gray, yellowish, ta, pink, brown, or black - and usually harmonizes with background. The rough scales and salt-and-pepper speckling, in specimens from some areas, suggest decomposed granite. The markings, sometimes vague, usually consist of bands, but may be hexagonal, hourglass - or diamond-shaped. Dark rings on tail. Prenasals usually separated from rostral by small scales; or supraoculars pitted, creased or with rough outer edges. Scales keeled in 23 - 27 rows. Eats small mammals (mice, kangaroo rats, ground squirrels), lizards, and birds.
• References: Excerpts from A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS, 3/e by Robert C. Stebbins. Copyright (c) 2003 by Robert C. Stebbins. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
• Diet: rodents, birds, lizards
• Size: 22" to 51" (56 to 130 cm)