Basin wiki · Animals
Sidewinder
Crotalus cerastes
A small rattlesnake of sandy washes, named for the track it leaves. One of several venomous snakes in this basin.
Where you'll see it
Sidewinders use sandy or loose soil: washes, dunes, and soft flats, including the park and the sandier ground toward Twentynine Palms and Wonder Valley. They are most active at night and at dusk in the warm months, and they may bask at the edge of a wash in spring. A J-shaped or disconnected sidewinding track on morning sand is as common a sighting as the snake.
How to tell it
The field mark is the raised scales over the eyes, the “horns,” plus a sidewinding crawl when the sand is loose. Adults stay relatively small. The basin also has other rattlesnakes, including the Mojave rattlesnake, which does not need horns to be dangerous. Treat every rattlesnake as venomous and give it several feet. A gopher snake mimics the look and the buzz by vibrating its tail in dry leaves; the head shape and the rattle settle the question if you can see them without closing the distance.
Sharing a yard and a trail
Most bites happen when someone handles, pokes, or steps on a snake. Watch where you put hands and feet around woodpiles, block walls, and the first shady step in the morning. A snake on a trail should be left to leave; throwing gravel at it is how people get struck. On private land, a rattlesnake in the open is wildlife doing rodent control. If one is inside a house or a garage, that is an animal-control call, not a shovel project for a guest.
If someone is bitten
Call 911. California Poison Control is 1-800-222-1222. Keep the person still, take off rings and tight gear before swelling starts, and get to emergency care. The hospital for this basin is in Joshua Tree. Do not cut, suck, ice, or tourniquet the bite. A photo of the snake taken from a safe distance can help staff, and it is optional. Dead snakes and detached heads can still deliver venom.
