Rattlesnake UFC Part 2

Labor day, 2009 at about 9:45 am on a short walk, I came across this pair of adult male Movaje rattlesnakes (Crotalus scutulatus) battling it out. A definite rarity in the field, even for those of us who are herpetologists, wildlife photographers, or just avid reptile enthusiasts. I've been in the field a lot and have seen a LOT of snakes, but this is my first encounter with this behavior, although it is a well known part of their courtship behavior. Basically, during certain parts of the year, female rattlers are in their prime for courtship and the males know it (won't get too scientific here, because I'm not writing a book LOL) If a female is nearby, and one adult male encounters another, they may battle. The one who crawls away first is the looser... I watched these two go at it for at least an hour. In fact, there was a third male in the bush to my right, and i only saw him once, but he was bigger, and apparently uninsterested in this war. Once these two were done, I walked back out of the wash, and on my ran into a female snake 25 yards down from these guys. Maybe she was the one causing all this... who knows?

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• scutulatus
• mojave
• rattlesnake
• battle
• arizona
• combat