Pygmy Rattlesnake vs. Western Massasauga

The two small rattlers of Oklahoma, both with nine big plates on the crown. The Pygmy lives in the wooded east and the Cross Timbers, the Massasauga in the grassland of the centre and west; they meet in central Oklahoma and Texas. A: Small, round blotches spaced apart, with a rust-red stripe down the spine between them in the Pygmy Rattlesnake; large, close-set brown blotches nearly touching, no rust stripe in the Western Massasauga. B: Tiny and thin, a few small segments: it buzzes like an insect in the Pygmy Rattlesnake; larger and thicker, heard clearly in the Western Massasauga. The Massasauga's belly is mostly black; the Pygmy's is whitish with dark smudges. Both are venomous: watch from a distance.

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

More comparisons

• Pygmy Rattlesnake vs. Timber Rattlesnake
• Pygmy Rattlesnake vs. Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake
• Pygmy Rattlesnake vs. Prairie Rattlesnake
• Southern Hognose Snake vs. Pygmy Rattlesnake
• Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake vs. Pygmy Rattlesnake
• Short-tailed Snake vs. Pygmy Rattlesnake
• Western Massasauga vs. Prairie Rattlesnake
• Rock Rattlesnake vs. Western Massasauga
• Western Black-tailed Rattlesnake vs. Western Massasauga
• Chihuahuan Nightsnake vs. Western Massasauga
• Eastern Black-tailed Rattlesnake vs. Western Massasauga

Wildsight identifies the reptiles and amphibians of the United States. Every comparison