Description
A wild Speckled Rattlesnake, Crotalus mitchellii, subspecies mitchelli, close-up on a rock, against a totally defocussed natural background, on Isla San José, an island in the the Sea of Cortez off Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Speckled Rattlesnakes are members of the subfamily of 155 species of venomous pit vipers, which have a deep loreal pit between each eye and nostril which open into infrared detecting organs which help these snakes to locate prey. This is a very useful ‘sixth sense’ (which has been shown in experiments to work independently of sight and smell) for a predator which hunts at night.
This individual is of the mitchellii subspecies, which is found throughout much of Baja California Sur, as well as on six offshore islands in the Gulf of California including San José.
This photo is copyright © Liz Leyden. All rights strictly as agreed in writing with the author or her agent.
My Speckled Rattlesnake photo is available to purchase as a Rights-managed stock photo from Alamy.
My photo of a Spectacled Rattlesnake is also available for sale as various types of wall art, and as home and personal accessories, from my gallery at Pixels.com.
