Price's Rattlesnake

Crotalus pricei, (Van Denburgh)

Colouration: Grayish-brown, with two series of closely set, small, seal-brown blotches on the back-these faintly margined with white. On some specimens the spots fuse together in the form of transverse blotches; this tendency is shown on the latter part of the body with most specimens. On the tail the markings assume, above, the form of rings.
Dimensions: Following are the measurements of an adult specimen, with a rattle composed of six uniform segments.
Distribution: As the species is very rare the limits of its range are not definitely known. It was discovered in 1895 in the Huachuca Mountains in Arizona, and since that time, barely a dozen specimens have been taken in the United States. The species probably ranges from southern Arizona well into Mexico.
Habits: Nothing is known of the habits beyond the disposition to frequent mountainous places and at a considerable elevation.

Next to the green rattlesnake, the present species is the smallest of the genus. Price's Rattlesnake is quite stout of body. On gross examination it appears strikingly like the Northern massasauga, (Sistrurus catenatus), in size, form, colouration and shape of the rattle. The scales are in twenty-one rows.

The head is grayish above, with a large lyre or U-shaped blotch at the base. From behind the eye to the base of the head, is a broad black band, bordered beneath by white and thus greatly intensified. The abdomen is slaty gray.

Total Length . . . . . 21 1/2 inches.

Tail, exclusive of rattle . . . . . 1 1/2 inches.

Length of Rattle, 6 rings . . . . . 3/4 inches.

Greatest Diameter . . . . . 7/8 inches.

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

Length of Head . . . . . 1 1/8 inches.

Through the kindness of Dr. Samuel Garman and Mr. Thomas Barbour, the writer has examined a specimen from the San Blas Mountains, in Chihuahua, Mexico, not far from the boundary.