Rock Rattlesnake

(Crotalus lepidus)

"Banded Rock Rattlesnake"

Color Photograph: Jeff Servoss, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

"Mottled Rock Rattlesnake"

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Jack Goldfarb

Rock Rattlesnake (Crotalus lepidus)

Identification: Length 16 to 32 inches. Rattles present. Color green-gray, blue-gray, pink, or tan. Bands around the body dark, narrow, and widely separated. Bands with narrow white margins. Light, wide areas between bands typically speckled. Head relatively small for the genus.

Geographic Variation:

Banded Rock Rattlesnake (C.l. klauberi): Light spaces between dark bands not as heavily spotted and no dark stripe present between the eye and the angle of the mouth. Range: Southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, south into Mexico.

Mottled Rock Rattlesnake (C.l. lepidus): Light spaces between dark bands heavily spotted and a dark stripe present between the eye and the angle of the mouth. Range: Southeastern Texas and southward into Mexico.

Range (see map below left): The Rock Rattlesnake occurs from southeastern Arizona in the west to southwestern Texas in the east, southward into Mexico.

Habitat: This species is found in mountainous regions, canyons, limestone outcrops, and rocky streambeds.

Food:  Lizards, small snakes, and small rodents.

Behavior:  This species is often found near permanent or intermittent streams.

Reproduction:  Live bearing with offspring produced in July and August. The female produces 2 to 8 young per year.

Rock Rattlesnake (Crotalus lepidus)

The widely separated, narrow dark bands on the body will separate this species from other rattlesnakes in the western United States.

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