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California Lyresnake vs. Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake

The lyresnake is often taken for a rattlesnake: a wide flat head, cat's-eye pupils and blotches on rocks. Their records overlap widely. A: Flat, rounded at the back, no pit; a dark lyre mark on top in the California Lyresnake; broad and triangular, much wider than the thin neck; a pit between the eye and nostril in the Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake. B: Big plates with a dark lyre mark in the California Lyresnake; small speckled scales, no lyre in the Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake. C: Smooth and glossy in the California Lyresnake; rough, keeled and dull in the Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake. Look for the rattle: the lyresnake has a thin pointed tail. The lyresnake is harmless to people.

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California Lyresnake

Trimorphodon lyrophanes

Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake

Crotalus pyrrhus

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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