Washington County Rattlesnakes

Washington County Rattlesnakes: Great Basin Rattler Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
Great Basin Rattler, Crotalus lutosus
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
I was in the process of taking a video of a Gila Monster in Washington County’s Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. It was walking toward me and backed me into a Creosote Bush. That’s when I heard the buzz. It sounded like I had alarmed a rattlesnake, but I had been fooled before by a bull snake vibrating its tail in dry Leaf’s. It turns out it was indeed a Great Basin Rattlesnake coiled under the creosote and warning me to keep my distance. Washington County boasts 4 species of rattlesnakes, more than any other county in the state. While Great Basin Rattlers and Sidewinders are by far the most common, Mojave and Speckled Rattlesnakes can be found on the slopes of the Beaver Dam wash.

Sidewinder Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
Sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Speckled Rattler Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Speckled Rattler, Crotalus mitchellii
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Mojave Rattler Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Mojave Rattler, Crotalus scutulatus
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

The motion of Sidewinders is fascinating as they undulate across the desert sand, keeping a portion of its under-belly off the heated sand at all times to reduce overheating. These small (2 ft. or less) snakes have a horn over each eye. They are often overlooked because of their reduced size and reluctance to go in motion. Like most rattlers, they are primarily nocturnal in summer, but crepuscular during cooler seasons. They often bury themselves in sand, exposing only their eyes and horns. This behavior effectively hides them from predators and allows them to ambush prey such as lizards and birds.

Although all local rattlesnakes are well camouflaged, none measures up to the standard of the Speckled Rattlesnake. They seem to be nearly invisible on the basalt rocks where they reside. Out with a group of university students one day on the Beaver Dam Slope, I encountered a Speckled Rattlesnake. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t watched it coil into a defensive posture. I called students over to observe it as it remained coiled and very still. It was entertaining to watch their reactions as one by one they were able to distinguish it from the rock with a look of excitement and disbelief.

All rattlesnakes are venomous and potentially lethal to some degree. Their venom generally contains hemotoxins which cause blood and tissue damage. The Mojave Rattler sometimes referred to as Green Rattlers, lead the way in this category, their venom contains nerve damaging neurotoxin. Envenomation by this specie is much more concerning as it can cause paralysis. It frequently causes Permanent numbness at the site of the bite.

Getting bitten by a rattlesnake can be a serious medical event but depending on the species, between 25% and 50% of Rattlesnake bites are “dry bites” meaning no venom is injected. If properly treated, within an hour or two, the outlook for recovery from envenomation usually very good. In fact, in North America, over 99% of people who receive prompt hospital treatment with antivenom survive. Over the years, many first aid measures for snakebite have been discredited, some even made the situation worse. It is best to keep the victim calm and still, immobilizing the bitten potion of the body if possible and keep it at roughly heart level as you calmly get to a medical facility.

All rattlesnakes are ovoviviparous, females produce fertile eggs but keep them inside their body until they hatch, so the young emerge alive. This is a great survival strategy in a desert environment where Gila Monsters and an army of other egg devouring creatures reside. Baby rattlesnakes feed on insects and small lizards until they become large enough to seek out warm blooded rodents. All rattlers are pit-vipers. A heat sensory pit is located between the eye and nostril on each side of a rattlesnake’s head. These pits detect infrared radiation (heat) from warm-blooded prey, they are so sensitive they can detect the heat left in rodent tracks. This adaptation is essential for nocturnal or low-light hunting.

Rattlesnakes discern their environment through a reptilian sense of smell. Extending their forked tongues, they collect molecules from the air and transfer them back into their mouths. There they are inserted into two A pair of organs known as “Jacob’s organs”. These organs interpret the molecules as a sense of smell and taste.

Rattlesnakes are marvelous creatures important for maintaining balance in ecosystems. Though feared by many, it is always a red-letter day for me when I have a chance encounter with a rattlesnake in my desert wanderings.

I’m professor Marshall Topham and I’m wild about Utah and its diverse rattlesnake fauna.

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Friend Weller, https://www.upr.org/people/friend-wellerCourtesy & Copyright © Anderson, Howe, Wakeman
Text: Marshall Topham, https://ees.utahtech.edu/faculty-staff/
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah pieces by Marshall Topham https://wildaboututah.org/author/marshall-topham/

Utah Vipers, Fieldguide, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Department of Natural Resources, State of Utah, https://fieldguide.wildlife.utah.gov/?family=viperidae

What to know about rattlesnakes in Utah and how to stay safe, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Department of Natural Resources, State of Utah, April 8, 2025, https://wildlife.utah.gov/news/utah-wildlife-news/2094-what-to-know-about-rattlesnakes-and-how-to-stay-safe.html

Wild About Monsters

Wild About Monsters: Gila Monster Sunning, Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
Gila Monster Sunning
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
Gila Monster Sensing with Tongue 
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
Gila Monster Sensing with Tongue
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Wild About Monsters: Gila Monster at Den, Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Gila Monster at Den
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Wild About Monsters: Gila Monster Under Sage, Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Gila Monster Under Sage
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Wild About Monsters: Gila Monster Up to Size, Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Gila Monster Up to Size
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

The excitement in her voice could not be more obvious as I answered her call. “Dad, there’s a Gila Monster walking down the middle of my jogging trail right now”. She was only a few minutes away so I ask her to follow it until I could get there. I arrived in time to film it wading through the desert grasses as it made its way back to its den. It’s always a good day when you see a Gila Monster in the wild. Monster sightings are not common in the Southwest corner of Utah even though they are quite abundant in this portion of the Mojave Desert. There’s a reason encounters with these beaded citizens of the desert are uncommon. They can spend more than 90% of their lives underground. Their activity is mostly limited to a few weeks in early Spring, and they generally emerge to forage in late evening, returning to their dens at dawn. Because of their exceptionally slow metabolism, they can survive on as few as three or four large meals a year. Those meals converted into fat, stored primarily in their tails, allows them to spend 10- or 11-months estivating (hibernating) out of sight, in their dens.

Despite their fierce reputation Gila Monsters are shy nonthreatening creatures. I have had them walk across my sandal clad feet on more than one occasion. If hassled these monsters will open their mouth and hiss loudly as a warning, but to get bitten by one would require handling it. They have venom, but lack a mechanism to inject it, so they must flood their mouth with the venom, filling grooved teeth by capillary attraction. They then must chew it into their prey. A Gila Monster bit should receive medical attention, but despite the legends we have all heard to the contrary, there is no reputable record of human death associated with Gila Monster envenomation. To the contrary, the saliva of Gila Monsters contains a compound called exendin-4, which has been synthesized into a drug used successfully to treat type 2 diabetes. This is a prime example of how the study of wildlife can lead to significant contributions to human wellbeing. It underscores the need to protect and preserve wildlife of all kinds. The Gila Monster is the official Utah state reptile, and they enjoy legal protection here and, in every state, where they occur. (CA, NV, UT, NM & AZ)

Several years ago, I had the rare opportunity of filming a Gila Monster excavate and consume four tortoise eggs from the apron of a tortoise den. The entire time a female tortoise stood inches away and observed the carnage without moving a muscle. I found myself wishing I knew how to communicate with tortoises so I could scream out “good grief mother, do something to protect your young”. Times like this create a moral dilemma. Do I intervein in this situation or let nature take its course. On this day I chose the latter.

I’m Professor Marshall Topham and I’m wild about Utah’s Gila Monsters

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Friend Weller, https://www.upr.org/people/friend-wellerCourtesy & Copyright © Anderson, Howe, Wakeman
Text: Marshall Topham, https://ees.utahtech.edu/faculty-staff/
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah pieces by Marshall Topham https://wildaboututah.org/author/marshall-topham/

Gila Monster, Fieldbook of Utah Species, Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Utah Department of Natural Resources, https://fieldguide.wildlife.utah.gov/?species=heloderma%20suspectum

Jolley, Faith Heaton, A rare sighting of the elusive Gila monster, Wildlife Blog, Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Utah Department of Natural Resources, March 28, 2019 https://wildlife.utah.gov/news/wildlife-blog/580-a-rare-sighting-of-the-elusive-gila-monster.html

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, Washington County & US Bureau of Land Management, http://www.redcliffsdesertreserve.com/

Footprints of Dinosaurs in Our Past

Dinosaurs in our past: Dinosaur Footprint Cast, The Prehistoric Museum, USU Eastern Campus, Price, UT Courtesy Mary Heers, Photographer
Dinosaur Footprint Cast
The Prehistoric Museum,
USU Eastern Campus, Price, UT
Courtesy Mary Heers, Photographer

Dinosaur Footprint Display, The Prehistoric Museum, USU Eastern Campus, Price, UT  Courtesy Mary Heers, Photographer Dinosaur Footprint Display
The Prehistoric Museum,
USU Eastern Campus, Price, UT
Courtesy Mary Heers, Photographer

When I saw my first giant dinosaur footprint a the Natural History Museum of Utah, I said it was terrific.

“Dime a dozen, “ said my father-in-law, who was standing next to me. “The ceiling of the coal mine is littered with them.”

My ears perked right up. “Really,?” I said. “Maybe I could get one?”

As a young mining engineer right out of college, my father in law had been hired to run the Sunnyside coal mine about 25 miles outside of Price. He went on to explain that it was impossible to take a footprint out of the mine ceiling with risking bringing the whole roof down on your head. I had to agree it sounded difficult, but that didn’t stop me from sighing and saying, “I sure would like a dinosaur footprint for Christmas. “

In the end, he compromised by arranging a trip into the mine to see the footprints.

So, on a day no one was working in the mine, we climbed into the low riding miner’s car that carried us deep, deep into the heart of the mountain. When we got to the face we stopped and got out. In the dim light of our headlamps I could see we were in a huge cavernous room with massive pillars of coal, seven feet high and almost as wide, holding up the roof. And then I looked up and saw them – three toed footprints pressed down into the ancient mud that had turned into coal millions of years ago. Whole families of dinosaurs had strolled through this prehistoric swamp, leaving big prints, as long as two feet, and small ones, as small as six inches.

I found out later that the preservation of these footprints was a happy accident of sand filling up the prints soon after they were made. Millions of years later, when the decaying swamp plants were compressed into coal, the sand (itself pressed into sandstone,) held the shape of the foot.

A similar lucky mix of sand, water and pressure was needed to preserve dinosaur bones. Not all bones become fossils. So you can imagine the excitement in the scientific community when a fossil bed containing more than 12,000 dinosaur bones were discovered 30 miles south of Price. There were enough bones to qualify as a crime scene. To this day, my favorite spot in the Natural History Museum of Utah is the corner where 4 paleontologists on 4 TV screens square off with their earnest explanations for this massive bone pile-up.

    One says it was a watering hole that dried up so the dinosaurs died.

    “No,” says the second. There was too much water. The site became so muddy that the dinosaurs got stuck in the mud.

    The third offers up the idea that it could have been poison or a lethal germ that got in the water.

    “Oh, no,” says the fourth. The dinosaurs died somewhere else, and floodwaters floated them here.

It’s a mystery still waiting to be solved, and that’s what makes studying Utah’s past so interesting.

This is Mary Heers, and I’m Wild About Utah.

Credits:
Photos: Courtesy Mary Heers,
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Friend Weller, Utah Public Radio upr.org
Text: Mary Heers, https://cca.usu.edu/files/awards/art-and-mary-heers-citation.pdf
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah, Mary Heers’ Wild About Utah Postings

Sunnyside Coal Mines, UtahRails.net, Last Updated March 8, 2019, https://utahrails.net/utahcoal/utahcoal-sunnyside.php

Prehistoric Museum, USU Eastern Campus, Price, UT, https://eastern.usu.edu/prehistoric-museum/

Natural History Museum of Utah, Rio Tinto Center, University of Utah, https://nhmu.utah.edu/

Pleasant Surprises!

Gopher Snake, Courtesy US FWS
Gopher Snake
Courtesy US FWS

Cow Moose and Calf, Photo Courtesy US FWS, Tim Bowman, Photographer Cow Moose and Calf
Photo Courtesy US FWS
Tim Bowman, Photographer

Golden Eagle, Snake River gorge, Courtesy US FWS, Aldis Garsvo, Photographer Golden Eagle
Snake River gorge
Courtesy US FWS,
Aldis Garsvo, Photographer

Peregrine Falcon, Courtesy US FWS Peregrine Falcon
Courtesy US FWS

Clark's Nutcracker Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service Dave Menke, Photographer Clark’s Nutcracker Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service Dave Menke, Photographer

Mother Grizzly Bear and Cubs in Yellowstone National Park Courtesy USGS Frank T. van Manen, Photographer Mother Grizzly Bear and Cubs in Yellowstone National Park Courtesy USGS Frank T. van Manen, Photographer

Beaver, Courtesy US FWS, Robes Parrish, Photographer Beaver
Courtesy US FWS
Robes Parrish, Photographer

Great Horned Owl and Chick Courtesy US FWS George Gentry, Photographer Great Horned Owl and Chick Courtesy US FWS George Gentry, Photographer

Douglas Fir, Courtesy USDA Forest Service Douglas Fir
Courtesy USDA Forest Service

Mexican Spotted Owl, Courtesy US FWS, Shaula Hedwall, Photographer Mexican Spotted Owl
Courtesy US FWS
Shaula Hedwall, Photographer

Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus), Photo Courtesy US BLM Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus), Photo Courtesy US BLM

Northern Pocket Gopher, Thomomys talpoides. Courtesy NPS, Gillian Bowser, Photographer Northern Pocket Gopher
Thomomys talpoides
Courtesy NPS
Gillian Bowser, Photographer

Muscrat, Courtesy US FWS, Jessica Bolser, Photographer Muscrat
Courtesy US FWS
Jessica Bolser, Photographer

American Marten
Courtesy US NPS American Marten
Courtesy US NPS

We all love pleasant surprises! I especially enjoy nature’s offerings, both pleasant and less so. I wish to share a few from a very long list!

Snakes may be at the top. I believe we have an innate fear of this special reptile, which has imparted indelible memories. Great Basin gopher snakes have repeatedly shown an uncanny
ability to find birds nests in implausible locations, climbing seemingly impossible vertical walls to consume both bird eggs and young. Rarely, rattlesnakes have crossed my path, their buzz always putting me on full alert- a spine tingling surprise.

Moose may be second to snakes. I’ve been charged a few times and revisit nearly every step taken toward me by these grand beasts, my own steps in fast retreat. But it was a sandhill crane – young bull moose memory, where the crane won the day which lingers fresh. As the young bull curiously extending his tender muzzle toward the nesting bird, it elicited a sharp beak response from the nester that sent the youngster scurrying away.

Golden eagles are a favorite bird for their beauty, intelligence, and undisputed apex predator status. I was stunned to find they may not be top bird after all. On two occasions, I have witnessed a peregrine falcon unleashing its powers of blazing speed and agility to usher a golden eagle well away from the falcon’s eyrie.

I associate the Clark’s nutcracker as a keystone species for nut gathering and caching, while inadvertently feeding grizzlies, squirrels, and planting innumerable five needled pines. It rocked my socks when a flock of songbirds were attacking a Clarks who had stolen a baby bird from a nest for a midday snack. This activity forever changed its strictly nut-eating narrative. I’ve had at least a hundred bear encounters in Yellowstone, Tetons, and Denali national parks, all with favorable outcomes. But only once have I crossed paths with a mountain lion in my thousands of miles hiking wild, remote country. I can recount nearly every second of that rare moment. Lurking in the shadows on a beautiful fall day, I mistake the lion for a coyote. As I approached it from about 30 yards distance, it slowly moved revealing a very long tail. Mixed emotions surged while I talked gently, walking slowly in its direction as it gradually moved away. A spellbinding, euphoric moment.

Beaver encircling boat
I experienced two unforgettable occurrences while exploring Zion’s Hidden Canyon. Being midday, I wasn’t expecting anything beyond a rock squirrel. Then came an unusual hoot, definitely not that of a great horned owl. Answering its call, it flew toward me alighting in a large Douglas fir- a Mexican spotted owl- my first and only sighting. Soon after, two furry critters scrambled up a 10 foot boulder, ringtail cats! Mostly nocturnal, a very rare moment indeed!

I’ll conclude with several surprise animal attacks I’ve suffered- a pocket gopher nipped the soul of my boot, a muskrat attacked my hip-waders, and a pine martin chewed on my well protected toe. Finally, I’ve been strafed by various bird species protecting their nests and young. All leaving surprised chuckles from the victim.

Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, Wild for more of Utah’s nature surprises!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy US FWS, USDA Forest Service and US NPS. All photographers acknowledged with images
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Friend Weller, https://upr.org/
Bird Sounds Courtesy & Copyright Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections
Text:     Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading Links: Lyle Bingham

Additional Reading:

Wild About Utah Pieces by Jack Greene, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/