Sidewinder Rattlesnake - Photos taken by Jerry Schudda
Photo by Jerry Schudda
SIDEWINDER
The name "sidewinder" refers to the snake's unique locomotion: shimmying across hardpan and loose sand by hurling itself forward-"walking" on its chin and a loop of its body in successive "S" curves. This minimizes body contact with the soil and thus heat absorption, while making speedy headway across scorching terra firma.
Sidewinders average about 18 inches long. Found in arid flatlands, loose, sandy washes, hardpan terrain, and rocky areas below 5,000 feet, they dine on small, burrowing rodents, lizards, other snakes and sometimes birds.
Efficient hunting tools include a mottled, buff-brown camouflage skin: two infrared heat sensing pits on either side of the head just below the eyes that detect heat from warm blooded prey; a forked tongue that picks up extremely faint odors; and a fast working venom that immobilizes any small mammal in minutes.
When a sidewinder strikes a rodent within ambush range, it turns the critter loose and lets its venom kick in. The snake picks up dinner's scent trail and follows leisurely until it finds the immobilized rodent then swallows it whole. Reptiles are grabbed and held until the venom takes effect, then swallowed.
An adaptation unique to sidewinders plays a role: It's the only
Like all rattlesnakes, sidewinders bear live young. After a male and female mate in late spring, anywhere from three to 18 wriggling babies between six to eight inches long are born in early fall. If they make it to adulthood, they can live as long as 20 years.
Chances are you'll never see a wild sidewinder by day. These snakes are so cool and quiet-coiled and camouflaged in a self made circular pit beneath a shrub or rocky overhang that you'll walk past and never know one's there.
If you do encounter one, you'll be seeing a rare, unique critter that lives nowhere else but the southwest.
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Associate Broker
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1890 E. River Rd
Tucson, AZ 85718
520-918-3843