This weekend, a friend and I made a last minute trip out to Joshua Tree National Park to search for photography opportunities. After doing a short hike, we drove into the main park entrance about 5:30pm. Although the temperature was starting to drop, the asphalt was still warm; it didn’t take long before we discovered this freshly road killed Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchllii pyrrhus). Its a species I’ve always wanted to photograph–just not like this.
Its always somber to see road killed reptiles, but this was just the beginning. Not five minutes later, we pulled a very badly injured (fatally, I’m sure) coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum) off the road, and over the course of the evening, we found a gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer), and a red diamond rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber) that had been killed earlier in the day. It was carnage–easy to see why–with cars whizzing by us at 50-60 mph (25-35 mph over the posted speed limit).
Accidents happen, especially with fast-moving snakes like gopher snakes or coachwhips–they can jump out in front of a driver, with no hope of being avoided. But, as my friend pointed out, there is no excuse for killing a rattlesnake in a park where the speed limit is 25 or 35 miles per hour. They’re visible animals, and when following the speed limit, they can be avoided, largely because they are slow-moving.
April and May is peak camping season in Joshua Tree–the campgrounds are full, and people are everywhere. Right now, that time of day is suicide for a basking snake.
To make it worse, the red diamond rattlesnake we found later in the evening was missing its rattle. I hate to think about someone hitting the animal purposely to take the rattle (although I know of people who have done just that)–its a despicable act. Even if a later driver stopped to take it, I wouldn’t want to be that person if a park ranger came down the road!
I know I sound like a real square with this post, urging people to stick to the posted speed limit, but after what we witnessed this weekend in Joshua Tree, its obvious that slowing down could really help to save some beautiful wildlife from needless deaths.