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Dancing Rattlesnakes Galleries

Dancing Rattlesnakes : At the end of the Summer of 2004, I was invited to visit a study site in south west New Mexico where large numbers of Prairie Rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis, have been caught, weighed, measured, sampled, and PIT-tagged. In addition, transmitters have been placed in some individuals so that researchers can easily follow them. In that way a great deal of information has been gathered on growth, diet, times of activity, sexual activity, response to temperature and rain, and many other factors. Other snakes are involved in similar studies at the site, including Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes, Common Kingsnakes, Gophersnakes, and Coachwhips. So I was very interested and ready to gather information as we drove up. And of course, I had my Pentax ready for action. After introductions and throwing our gear in appropriate spots, we drove out to check on a female viridis living in or near a kangaroo rat mound. She had a transmitter, but since she had been located earlier in the day, our guides knew right where she would be. As we approached, however, something remarkable was observed. Two heads were bobbing up out of the sagebrush, moving about vigorously. As we got a little closer, it became obvious that we were witnessing prairie rattlesnake male combat, something I had not seen in any rattlesnakes. I was aware of male combat in diamondbacks, as it is observed occasionally and even seen by my neighbors in the Tortolita Mountains of Southern Arizona. But it has not been observed often in Crotalus viridis, so we were seeing something special. There appeared to be a rather dominant male, and it was determined by lack of paint on the rattle that it was likely a new animal, not seen or processed by the researchers before. The dominated male, however, had paint markings on its rattle (one of the results of “processing”), and was determined to be the Rattlesnake called “Mexico” by the researchers. It had been hanging around the female we originally came to observe. The female, a minor role player in this story, was deep in the mound. She was already gravid, with birthing anticipated in the next week or two. The fact that she was gravid would have seemed to lessen the chances of male combat, but she was also opaque. The prevailing theory was that the shedding process heightened pheromone production and release, and that triggered the response by the males. We crouched down carefully, but the two males were definitely aware of us. As the late afternoon sun was on the on the other side of the males, I realized photo documentation would be extremely difficult. I backed out, and very carefully worked my way around to the other side, putting the sun at my back. This also put me very near the Kangaroo Rat mound. The two males continued with their “battle”, every once in a while stopping to eye us. At no point did they show any aggression towards us. They did, however, work their way towards me, eventually getting within 2 feet. They were preoccupied, but still eyeing me occasionally. At that point I was “frozen”, not moving any so as not to draw undo attention, as they were very close. I was getting “great advice” at the time- “make like a rock,” “don’t move, nothing to worry about,” “don’t worry, your heat signature is washed out by the warm soil” and so forth. I know that you can get focused (no pun intended) behind a camera and lose track of what an animal in front of you is doing. That can be tricky, and I prefer an extra hand when shooting venomous animals. But I was comfortable as long as others were verbally updating me. The match itself was very intense. We observed much wrestling, occasionally hissing and rattling, some bloating of the throats and bodies. On a couple of occasions there would be a very aggressive “throw” where the dominant male would simply slam the other to the ground with a loud thump; we saw that at least three times. The dominated male tried to get away on a couple of occasions, heading for the mound. The other male would catch up, re-engage, and they would be right back to it. At one point the dominated male made it to the mound, and headed down one of the many holes. The other followed him. I assumed that was the last we would see of them, but after five minutes, as we are discussing this incredible observation, out they came. They resumed combat. As it was getting dark and we had no lights, we left one of us to observe what he could; the others went back to camp to resupply and start dinner. The whole event was observed for approximately three and a half hours. The next morning, what we assume to be the dominant male was observed coiled next to the female, both out on the side of the mound. She was very wary, sliding quickly into one of the holes. The male was captured, and processed later that day, then returned to the identical spot. We found the other male, “Mexico”, about 60 yards away, quietly coiled in deep grass. This was a wonderful chance to observe nature at its most interesting. I believe there will be several descriptions about this event in scientific papers. How cool to have been there. The observed “combat” was very ritualistic in nature. Either animal could have bitten the other, likely envenomating its opponent. But they never did, as if they understood clearly there was nothing to be gained by that destructive behavior. During our three days we observed quite a few other snakes. The Coachwhips were tan and brown, quite different from the normal Tucson black phase. Common Kingsnakes were also in evidence, with a quite pretty splendida look. I thought I found my first Salvadora grahamiae (Mountain patch-nosed snake) west of Texas, but it turned out to be a very pretty pastel hexalepis (Western Patch-nosed snake), apparently typical of the area. I found a Sonora (Groundsnake) crossing the scrub and crawling in a small bush. It never ceases to amaze me how varied and beautiful this little fossorial snake can be. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it would take an awfully pretty animal to surpass this one. It was a great wind up for a fun trip. Many thanks to Matt Goode, Kevin Baker, and Sarah Denardo for helping me on this trip. They were great company, and great naturalists to hang around with.

Dancing Rattlesnakes

At the end of the Summer of 2004, I was invited to visit a study site in south west New Mexico where large numbers of Prairie Rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis, have been caught, weighed, measured, sampled, and PIT-tagged. In addition, transmitters have been placed in some individuals so that researchers can easily follow them. In that ...

Updated: Jun 20, 2007 11:53am PST