EISPIRATEN

I was surprised to see this little Crotalus on the Wildwood Canyon trail in the Verdugos yesterday. If you look closely you'll see the tail of some hapless lizard sticking out of its mouth. Lamborghini wasn't mine by-the-way; wrong color.

Great shot. I didn't know there were western diamondbacks in the San Gabriels.

I'm also surprised you saw one this late. I've been walking around thinking I don't have to worry about them at this time of the year.

Cool shot! Was the lizard struggling still?

I think the lizard was already still. Oddly I didn't realize what I'd captured until reviewing the pictures later.

CrazyHermit wrote: ↑Great shot. I didn't know there were western diamondbacks in the San Gabriels.

Well... that little guy or gal is not a Western Diamond-backed but a Southern Pacific rattlesnake, a subspecies of the Western Rattlesnake. (Depending upon your taxonomic view, the Southern Pacific may be its own species.)

I've never seen a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake with that straight banding around the tail section.

This snake is a juvenile. I don't think that its pattern has had a chance to develop / distribute along the length of its body yet.

Most of the Southern Pacifics I see are almost completely black, but I have seen tan ones like that.
The latest one I saw was dusty black with no pattern whatsoever.

Nice shot! You can tell it's a baby from the undeveloped rattle. Bonus that it is eating.

I really thought they would be hiding in holes now that's cooled off. I haven't seen a snake since July.

Is it extra-weird for a rattler out this late to be a juvenile? Was it born late?

Alas, the little rattler slithered away before I could ask it when it was born. I also misspelled 'Crotalus' (as in Crotalus Oreganus) in the original post and the editing window has elapsed.

Elwood wrote: ↑I also misspelled 'Crotalus' (as in Crotalus Oreganus) in the original post and the editing window has elapsed.

I fixed it. Also, I added a link to the Lamborghini thread.

Very interesting discussion of taxonomy. Thank you, gentlemen.