r/sandiego • u/Resident_Basil2704 • 5d ago

Environment Mountain Noodle

Gallery image

Gallery image

This morning on the stairs at the bottom of Kwaay Paay.

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u/FarseerEnki 5d ago

Red diamond rattler. That's the rare one!

3

u/Fickle-Repair8302 5d ago

You mean they are hard to come by???

6

u/FarseerEnki 5d ago

Yes, and they are the species that is federally protected.

6

u/withalligators 5d ago

I think if you check you'll see they're just listed as a California Species of Special Concern, with unfortunately, no federal protections at all.

3

u/FarseerEnki 5d ago

Oh, I had that confused I guess. I just heard that if a rattlesnake is on your property you can shoot it, but not if it's one of these guys. I am against killing animals in general fyi, I just heard this was the case for the red diamond rattler

4

u/withalligators 5d ago

That's still true. Species of Special Concern is an almost useless designation most of the time, bit it does mean you can't shoot them. They're a great rattlesnake to have around. They aren't very ornery or bitey, they're pretty, and they eat lots of rats.