acrylic on panel 20" x 16" (SOLD) Five types of ridge-nosed rattlesnakes range along the Sierra Madre Occidental, from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico to southern Durango state. Some folks say they should be considered five different species, but most authorities still see them as subspecies of a single species, Crotalus willardi. They are small montane snakes that rarely exceed two feet in length, and prefer rocky, mixed woodlands. They feed on small birds and mammals and invertebrates, and seem to have a special fondness for centipedes. Many young ridge-nosed rattlesnakes have bright yellow tails, suggesting that they may engage in caudal luring, although as far as I know this has never been witnessed. The animal in this painting represents the Arizona subspecies, C. w. willardi, which is found in southeastern Arizona, in the Santa Rita, Patagonia, Huachuca and Whetstone Mountains and the Canelo Hills, and in adjacent Sonora in the Sierra de los Ojos, Sierra de Cananea, and Sierra Azul. It is the state reptile of Arizona. The Huachuca Mountain Paintbrush (Castilleja patriotica) is found in the mountains of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico south to northern Durango and Sinaloa. Like other paintbrushes, it frequently parasitizes other plants, taking water from their root systems. |
