Compare two species

Tiger Rattlesnake vs. Rock Rattlesnake

Both have crossbands rather than blotches; they meet where the desert foothills of southeastern Arizona climb into the sky island mountains. A: Many crossbands made of dark scales and flecks, close together in the Tiger Rattlesnake; 14 to 24 crisp, jagged black crossbands spaced well apart in the Rock Rattlesnake. B: Blue-grey or orange-brown, often peach on the lower sides in the Tiger Rattlesnake; light greenish-grey to blue-grey in the Rock Rattlesnake. C: Banded like the body in the Tiger Rattlesnake; salmon or peach (yellow in the young) in the Rock Rattlesnake. The Tiger lives on desert slopes; the Rock Rattlesnake higher, in oak and pine-oak woodland. Venomous: leave rattlesnakes alone and give them room.

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Tiger Rattlesnake

Crotalus tigris

Rock Rattlesnake

Crotalus lepidus

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

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