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Side Winder

Photographed by © Mark Kostich

 

Sidewinder rattlesnake

 

Scientific Name: Crotalus cerastes

 

Nick Name: Horned Rattlesnake

 

Size: Mature adults grow 18 to 32 inches in length. When born they're around 6 to 8" long

 

Type: Venomous Snake

 

Appearance:  Sidewinder is light in color -- tan, cream, pink, gray or sandy, with darker patches on its back of gray, yellow or tan. It also has a dark eye strip extending back along its head.

 

   The Sidewinder has rough, keeled scales, which aid in its unique sidewinding locomotion. Its supraoculars (triangular projections over each eye) are pointed and upturned giving them a horn-like appearance -- hence the nickname, Horned Rattlesnake.

 

Nature: The Sidewinder travels quickly over desert surfaces using its unique "side winding" locomotion. It is quite aggressive just like other rattle snakes, but it wont do any harm if you leave it alone.

 

Distribution: Mojave and Sonoran deserts of southeastern California, western Arizona, southern Nevada and extreme southwestern Utah to Mexico. 

 

Habitat: Often found in arid desert flatlands, loose, sandy washes, hard pan flats and rocky areas below 5,000 feet. Also common among hummocks topped with creosote where Kangaroo Rats and other rodents burrow.

 

Feeds on:  Pocket Mice, Kangaroo Rats, lizards and sometimes birds. Young Sidewinders prefer lizards while older ones prefer rodents. Rodents are bitten, released and tracked down, while lizards are held until the venom takes effect.

 

Reproduction: Sidewinders mate April through May, sometimes in the fall. Females give birth to 5-18 young late summer to early fall. The young are born 6 to 8" long.

Side Line:

  • It is unique because of its sideways form of locomotion with its body moving in an S-shaped curve.

Subspecies

  • Mojave Desert Sidewinder (C. c. cerastes) has the bottom segment of its rattle brown. It ranges from extreme southwestern Utah, southern Nevada and the Mojave Desert of California.

 

  • Sonoran Sidewinder (C.c. cercobombus) has the bottom segment of its rattle black. It ranges from south-central Arizona into Sonora, Mexico.

 

  • Colorado Desert Sidewinder (C.c. laterorepens) has the basal rattle segment black. Ranges from southwestern Arizona and southeastern California into Mexico.

 

Sidewinder

 

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