Crotalus tzabcan
Klauber, 1952
Yucatán, Mexico. June 29, 2016
“The neonate tzabcan had crawled out of a cornfield, and was making its way to dense forest on the other side of the road when it was smashed flat against the pavement by a passing vehicle. We stopped to take a look at the unfortunate little rattlesnake; I took a photo voucher and a data point, and we went back to road-cruising. After passing that spot several times, Matt and Tim wanted out of the car, figuring that Mama Tzabcan, or siblings of the squashed snake, might still be over in that field. Their flashlights and headlamps disappeared from view as I whipped a u-turn and road-cruised solo for a while, maximizing our efforts. Five miles down the road I stopped at the outskirts of a small village and turned back, hoping the guys were having better luck on foot. Rolling up on the spot where I had dropped Matt and Tim off, I could see their lights bobbing in the field as they made their way back to the road. Just then a small snake appeared in my headlights, and I instantly knew what it was. Braking to a hard stop, I jumped out of the car and ran back, using my boots to block the passage of the neonate tzabcan. “I’ve got one!” I shouted to Matt and Tim. “A live one!” We had guessed right about this sibling. In all likelihood there were more of them, born just the previous week, freshly shed little button-tails dispersing into the dark.”
-from my Notes From The Field blog post ‘Blood, Corn, and Rattlesnakes‘.
My Flickr album for this species is here.
My Flickr album for Yucatán 2016 is here.
HerpMapper records for this species are here.
