Found on a hike in Santa Barbara County. (no he wasn't climbing...I picked him up with a stick =)
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Young Western Rattlesnake
georgio
May 24, 2003 08:44 PM
Replies (10)
Tzabcan
May 25, 2003 12:14 AM
Crotalus viridis helleri.
Nice snake though!
T. 
sirdouglas
May 25, 2003 09:44 AM
Isn't a southern pacific a species of western rattlesnake? The western rattlesnake just includes all rattle snakes with the scientific name of crotalus viridis. The southern pacific is Crotalus viridis helleri. This is what I always thought but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Tzabcan
May 25, 2003 11:26 AM
Yes, the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake Crotalus viridis helleri is a subspecies of the Western (aka Prairie) Rattlesnake Crotalus viridis viridis. It would be incorrect to call any of the many viridis subspecies "Western Rattlesnakes" as they all have their respective titles (Southern Pacific, Nothern Pacific, Arizona Black, Midget Faded, etc. etc.).
I hear through the grapevine that the viridis complex has recently fell victim to a taxonomic upheaval and will be changed a great deal. However, I don’t have any very current news on the subject, maybe one of our resident academics can clue us in as to what’s happening with that...
Regards,
T.
lanceheads
May 25, 2003 02:58 PM
Viridis has been dumped.
The snake in question is now known as Crotalus helleri.
sirdouglas
May 25, 2003 10:55 PM
ok, i was wrong. thanx for correncting me
sirdouglas
May 25, 2003 10:55 PM
oops...sorry for the typo*correcting
Ferdelance_1
May 26, 2003 06:46 AM
The common name "Western Rattlesnake" applied to all Specie/subspecies contain within the original complex.
I suggest you reread the info contained within the link I provided.
Cheers,
Derek K.
creep77
May 25, 2003 03:03 PM
This is true. For example, The midget faded rattlesnake was previously known as Crotalus viridis concolor. As of this year, the taxonomy has been changed to Crotalus oreganus concolor. I'm not sure whether this was due to morphological clues or mtDNA sequencing. Check the last issue of Jherp.
Ferdelance_1
May 25, 2003 08:02 PM
Click on link below:
Scroll down to 2002 publications:
Scroll down to Crotalinae: Revision of Crotalus viridis complex.
Enjoy the world of Taxonomy.
Cheers,
Derek K.
Crotalus viridis complex
longtang
Jun 19, 2003 02:31 PM
That is a great snake hook! I liked the snake hook.
The only rattler I have ever seen in the wild was back several years ago. Back then, I didn't have enough experience to hook them so I never did it. I knew enough to leave him alone when I didn't have enough experience to deal with hooking a rattler. I just played it safe and left him not hooked.
However, in the future, as I gain more knowledge on how to read the body language and more practice hooking, I will be bolder in the future.
cheers.
