We were down in southern Sonora, and there were six of us. We were in groups of two wandering about both day and night looking for and finding interesting wildlife. Dan Rosenberg and Lorrie Smith came back to our bivouac and told us that they had found a large Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake with her babies near her. Well, that sounded like something we had to see, so we launched off in three cars. My son Matt and I in one, Kenny Sharracks and Jeff Smith in another, and Dan and Lorrie leading the parade. Sure enough after a bit of scrambling we came to wide spot in the road with a little parking area and place to walk around just a bit. The sound of construction drifted to us as road work was occurring just a couple of hundred yards down the road. Dan and Lorrie walked us over to an overgrown area not far off the road, to a large downed log, and in the hollow of that log lay a large female basiliscus, and to her side were her babies. There were perhaps 12 to 15 of them, hard to count as they were balled up. Mom was calm, we all gawked at the sight, the babies got a bit nervous and worked their way from the open part of the hollow to the enclosed and protected area, a move of about two feet.
The Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake is an interesting animal. They can get very large and stout, and seem to be quite variable in color. This is in the northern part of their range. We have found them in southern Sonora thru the years but mostly smaller ones. The animals remind me very much of Crotalus mollosus, the Black-tailed Rattlesnake of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and northern Mexico. I have always wondered if the Timber Rattlesnake of the East Coast, the Canebrake Rattlesnake of the Southeast and the Blacktailed Rattlesnake were simply clinal variants of the same animal. Now throw in the Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake and is it possible they are all very closely related? Hopefully someone is looking at that with DNA analysis.
At any rate here is a photo of one from a previous year.
Back to our mother. Here is a photo of her with a few of her babies
You can see that the babies are slightly opaque
And you can see the protected hollow where the babies would go when they felt a bit stressed
We could not get enough of this. We hung around for a bit then decided to give mom and babies some relief. Over the next three days we returned somewhat regularly to see what was happening. Thru the whole event the mother never once rattled, never once seemed to feel threatened. The babies were just a bit more active, moving around the log to optimize warmth or protection. The babies gradually cleared up and then began the shedding process.
Mom still watching over the process so carefully
After the shedding, the babies were sparkling clean and beautiful, with very crisp patterns!
All during this three-day period we were documenting the process. We were very careful around this log as the babies were difficult to spot and though they did not wander much it would have been most unfortunate to have sat on one or put our hand on one.
During this time there were some interesting things going on. We were obviously spending time with several cars at this spot, and there was some traffic on the road. We were not betting on a good outcome if the locals discovered what we were looking at so we, on hearing a car coming, would walk about 30 feet away and point up to the trees as if we were birdwatchers. This seemed to work as nobody stopped to check what we were up to. There was also a family of Wood Rats living up in the tree. They seemed more upset at the snakes at the bottom of their tree, but were also irritated at us. They actually made a lot of noise chattering at us!
After the last of the young snakes shed, things began to wind down. The babies began leaving. Mom hung around a bit but left the log and spent time in the nearby thick brush.
When we returned the next morning we could not find any of the animals. But it was a remarkable three days, an exciting experience for us all. At that point in time I was still wrestling with the thoughts of maternal caring by mother rattlesnakes. I had seen it only in Rock Rattlesnakes and even then not over time, so there had always been the possibility that the births had just occurred and everyone would be on their way shortly. Now there is quite a bit of work on maternal care, with much of it occurring with Arizona Blacks in northern Arizona. I just hope to come across something like this again.
That was a fun trip. Around the same area we found other fun and interesting animals like these two, a Coachwhip then a Whipsnake
Pretty Milksnakes
And a very pretty Procinura aemula
And as we headed back up north we encountered some old friends, the Mexican Spotted Box Turtle and the Ridgenosed Rattlesnake Crotalus willardi sills
And a couple of “bugs”. The always beautiful Aphonopelma moorei and Sphingicampa hubbardi
The herping here in Tucson is very slow as it is quite cold. This was the last Western Diamondback Rattlesnake that I saw about three weeks ago
Wishing all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Here is our version of a Desert Christmas Card,
Young
I have experience with only one large basiliscus, and it was a total bad-ass. As for the Sonora/Procinura tail adaptation, I thought possibly it could be used for blocking a burrow? Or not, probably too tapered for that?
