Grand Canyon Rattlesnake

Description:

Tan-colored adult of typical size.

Habitat:

Shaded area near the Colorado river.

Notes:

After searching all day for this species without any luck, we took a break in a shaded area with some old farm equipment laying around. After photographing some male spiny lizards in combat, one of the females watching the show was struck by the grand canyon rattlesnake hiding just a few feet from where I was sitting. We were able to belly crawl a bit closer and photograph the rest of what happened, before the snake crawled to a more shaded part of the tractor to digest its meal. We returned two days later, and the snake was still in the same place.