We have three distinctive sizes of rattlesnakes in Tucson: large, median (medium), and small. The Broadway Rattlesnake above can easily span over six lanes of traffic. It's primary diet is pedestrians, joggers, and bicyclists. Large enough that its been known to be hit by the tops of trucks rather than their wheels...
The digestive tract is quite spacious, and surprisingly rodent free...
and of course, there has to be a rattle... There is a sensor that detects people passing by and makes rattling noises at this end.
a sidewalk level view, looking toward downtown
This is the Wrightstown Rattlesnake, clearly a median sized snake, located on the east side of Tucson.
Despite being located on the median, this guy got run over by a vehicle a while back and had to be carefully nursed back to health. Still seems to have kind of a glazed look in the eyes though...
and last, but certainly not least, the small rattlesnake located six inches off the Loma Verde trail in Saguaro National Park on the east side of Tucson. Approaching from this direction, easy to miss, from the other direction... what snake? Care to pick the flowers, anyone?
What a fine collection of reptiles. I think I like the medium kind best.
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