Green Rattlesnake

Crotalus lepidus, (Kennicott)

Colouration: Greenish-gray, or rich, dark green above, crossed at wide intervals by narrow, jet-black bands. The bands are usually bordered with pale, greenish-yellow. The abdomen is pinkish, or yellowish-white.
Dimensions: Following are the measurements of a perfectly adult specimen, with a rattle of six uniform rings:
Distribution: The range is quite extensive, though the species is rare, so far as known. Later records may extend the distribution. The few specimens in our museums have been taken along the Mexican boundary from Eagle Pass, on the Rio Grande, in Texas, to Yuma, Arizona. The most northerly record of capture is from a point not far west of Socorro, New Mexico.
Habits: The species inhabits mountainous areas.

The smallest species of the genus. Its conformation differs from the other rattlesnakes as the body is quite slender, though the head is broad, flat and distinct from the neck. This species has twenty-three rows of scales.

Immediately behind the head is a black blotch that is bluntly forked in front. Between the black bands on the body are scattered scales that are tipped with black. There are practically no head markings, though the labial (lip) plates are paler than the upper portion of the head.

Total Length . . . . . 23 1/2 inches.

Length of Tail, exclusive of rattle . . . . . 1 3/8 inches.

Length of Rattle, 6 rings . . . . . 7/8 inches.

Greatest Diameter . . . . . 3/4 inches.

Width of Head . . . . . 3/4 inches.

Length of Head . . . . . 1 inches.

Through the kindness of Dr. Samuel Garman and Mr. Thomas Barbour, the writer has examined and photographed (the specimen figured) one of these snakes captured in the San Blas Mountains, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico--but a short distance south of the boundary line.

The range of the species into Mexico is not known.