
Note the prominent vertebral stripe and postorbital bar on this Canebrake Rattlesnake.
Firstly, what is a Canebrake? Well, the term canebrake actually pertains to a habitat feature, a thicket, a dense growth, of any of a variety of Arundinaria grasses/bamboos that are common in and along lowland streams and ravines in the southeastern United States.
And the Canebrake Rattlesnake is a crotalid that was traditionally associated with the canebrakes and other moist lowlands from FL to the Carolinas and westward to eastern Texas.
Until a few years ago this was a subspecies,
Crotalus horridus atricaudatus. But in their constant urge for change (or simply because they have the “power” to make such taxonomic changes), the genetic folks eradicated most subspecies (including those for the timber rattlesnake)and concluded that this beautiful southerner/westerner was merely a color variant of the northerly, often montane, Timber Rattlesnake. Both Timber and Canebrake are now merely
C. horridus. But please realize that you are under no obligation to follow this genetic ruling.
Remember that you, as I, remain free to refer to this beautiful rattlesnake as the Canebrake, a rattler that we as southerners have learned to love and one that northern herpers flock southward to see.
Comparisons | Timber | Canebrake |
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Ground Color | Black, olive, or yellow | Tan to pinkish |
Markings | Usually no banding on tail when adult
No postorbital stripe
Weak or missing vertebral stripe | Light banding usually visible on black tail
Prominent diagonal postorbital stripe
Prominent orangish vertebral stripe |