
Rubio, Manny. 2010. Guide to the Rattlesnakes of the United States and Canada. Rodeo, NM: ECO Herpetological Publishing and Distribution. 307 pp, w/copious color photos and maps. ISBN: 0978897943. Softcover, $34.95
I have to confess that Manny Rubio's new rattlesnake book had me at the first glimpse of the beautiful portrait of an Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake that adorns its cover. Issues of judging books by their covers aside, however, this new work by a well-known rattlesnake aficionado and professional photographer provides a tremendous amount of information that would be difficult to gather together elsewhere. The fact that it is also adorned by the author's outstanding photographic skills merely ices the proverbial cake. That said, however, it would be particularly remiss for a review on a herpetological site such as this to gloss over a few shortcomings and picky details.
Rattlesnakes as a group have been well covered in the herpetological literature, beginning with Gloyd's The Rattlesnakes, Genera Sistrurus and Crotalus (1940). Klauber's magnum opus, Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind, has continued through three editions of (1956, 1972, and 1997). More recently Campbell and Lamar's treatise, The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere (2004), which though not restricted to rattlesnakes, managed to cover all the taxa of Crotalus and Sistrurus known at the time. Hubbs and O'Connor (2009) have also produced a new endeavor, which this reviewer has not yet seen, and the trend currently culminates with the present work, which follows some twelve years in the wake of Rubio's critically acclaimed Rattlesnake: Portrait of a Predator (1998). While most of these books are not exactly "popular" fare and would hardly qualify as "field" guides, Rubio's new book comes close in both size (9" X 6") and content, making it all the more unfortunate that the author has chosen to restrict himself to the comparatively well-tilled soil north of the Mexican border.
Contrary to most specialized guides, which use their additional space to delve into identification esoterica (and even minutiae) not possible in the more generalized works, Rubio has assumed the stance of deemphasizing such details in the conviction that all US and Canadian rattlers can be sufficiently distinguished simply by viewing their photos and consulting the range maps in this book. To this end, it must be admitted that Rubio has provided excellent arrays of photos for each species and subspecies that would likely fulfill this goal to at least a 95% level (the few instances where this might not be practical are noted in the text).
Some of the characters that Rubio has chosen to eliminate or deemphasize are: head scalation, number of scale rows at points along the body, number of ventral scales, hemipenial morphology, venom pharmacology, and properties of mitochondrial DNA. The explanation given for excluding this data revolves around the requirement for handling, close inspection, and/or chemical/molecular analysis that applying such criteria would entail. Admittedly, few serious avocational rattlesnake aficionados ever actually resort to these characters in practice; still, it would have been comforting for them to have been included.
Taxonomically this book adheres to the version of orthodoxy currently accepted as of its date of publication with one exception: Rubio continues to recognize the Hopi Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis nuntius). It is of course the author's prerogative to recognize this subspecies despite its sinking by the most recent review (Douglas et al, 2002; based solely on mtDNA sequencing), but it would have been interesting to know his rationale, although such might arguably exceed the scope of the book. Also, in the Timber Rattlesnake account, Rubio reasonably brings up the unsatisfying current solution to the taxonomic problems inherent in this species (i.e., that no subspecies are justified), while reiterating how distinctive the "Canebrake" and "Timber" "morphs" really are (at least east of the Mississippi).
Scientific names are also generally in agreement with current standards except for the omission of the admittedly antiquated double "i" patronyms for mitchellii and edwardsii, as written in their original descriptions and thus required by International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
Additionally, although the author professes an intention to use the common names deemed standard by the three major herpetological societies in North America (Crother et al, 2008), he fails to do so consistently, using the preferred hyphenated form "Diamond-backed" initially but later lapsing into "Ridgenose," sans hyphen. Rubio also uses the peculiar formulation of "Green Prairie Rattlesnake" for Crotalus v. viridis and later the atypical "Spotted Rattlesnake" for Crotalus pricei (although the accepted "Twin-spotted" adjective is used in the subspecies account). These are relatively minor discrepancies, however, and unlikely to confuse most readers. Rubio is to be commended for writing the common names as proper nouns and appropriately capitalizing them; there is a difference in meaning between, for example, "twin-spotted rattlesnake" and "Twin-spotted Rattlesnake."
Each of the eighteen species accounts begin with a page-length summary for the species and/or each subspecies (in the case of polytypic forms). Especially helpful to neophytes, the scientific name for each taxon is immediately followed by a pronunciation guide, a feature all too rare in books of this sort (although purists and Europeans will doubtless find fault with the author's decision to retain the markedly American tendency to pronounce the "-i" ending of patronyms with a long "i" [e.g., "klauber-eye"]).
The first section of each taxon summary is dubbed "Features at a Glance," and depicts the silhouette of an average-sized individual snake juxtaposed against a human boot print on one side and a six-foot linear scale on the opposite, providing an effective representation of the relative length of each form. Following this graphic are several one sentence descriptors of the taxon's salient physical characteristics (e.g., size, rattle audibility, general pattern characters, etc.).
The second part of the summary page covers "Disposition & Venom Potential." Here each form is assigned a general threat level indicated by from one to five red skull-and-crossbones icons (Crotalus adamanteus rates five icons, Sistrurus miliarius only one). Next is a very general one sentence description of the temperamental tendencies of each form (experienced herpers will of course recognize that there are many exceptions to these generalities). This section closes with another one sentence evaluation of how "life threatening" the author considers a bite from each form, ranging from "extremely serious" (e.g., C. adamanteus), "very serious" (e.g., C. atrox), "serious" (e.g., C. cerberus), "possibly lethal to children or unhealthy adults" (e.g., C. willardi and C. pricei), to "not known to be lethal" (e.g., S. miliarius).
"Conservation Status & Population Threats" comprises the next section of each summary page where the author attempts to divine the status of each form, with most appearing to fall into the "declining throughout range" category. Curiously, Crotalus willardi and C. lepidus are both included in the "declining throughout range" group, whereas Crotalus pricei is listed as "stable throughout range. The "population threats" listed for most taxa are somewhat redundant, with litanies of "commercial collecting" and "unwarranted killing" appearing surprisingly more frequently than "habitat destruction" and "commercial development."
The "Habitat" section of each summary page consists of a brief general description of the kinds of natural situations known to be favored by each form.
And the last item on each summary page is a small map (ca. 1.5" X 1.5") depicting the range of each species (with each subspecies in a different color). These maps can also become quite redundant in polytypic species, with exactly the same map repeated on consecutive pages (that's five successive pages in the Crotalus oreganus complex displaying the same map!).
At the end of the species accounts Rubio undertakes to remedy what is likely the most frequent identification conundrum among rattlesnakes north of the Mexican border: the distinction between C. atrox and C. scutulatus. Devoting three pages and ten photos to this problem, Rubio produces ten characters that generally serve to differentiate between the two similar forms. Surprisingly, however, he fails to include among those characters one that I have personally found to be extremely reliable: the "Rich G. Rule," that the basal segment of the rattle is almost always uniformly black in C. atrox and usually much lighter or bicolored in C. scutulatus.
The range maps are a mixed bag, depicting substantial gaps in distribution where none that would justify inclusion on maps of this small scale actually exist (e.g., C. lepidus in Central and W. Texas) and continuing to show the presence of taxa in areas where they have been virtually extirpated (e.g., C. adamanteus in the Florida Parishes of Louisiana). An improvement over similar such maps in most field guides, however, is the attempt to depict how truly spotty the distributions of many rattlesnakes actually are in the modern landscape, particularly in the more developed areas of the country.
Nonetheless, it appears problematic as to how accurately these splatterings of color represent real populations as opposed to merely suggesting spotty distributions (e.g., the distribution of C. horridus in Arkansas is shown as consisting of fairly evenly dispersed specks, whereas the truly disjunctive distribution of the same species in east Texas is shown with a continuous swath of color). The map for the Northern Mohave Rattlesnake (C. s. scutulatus) is also particularly helpful in that it depicts the relative distribution of the two major - and medically significant - toxins to be found in this form (although the uninitiated must ultimately infer the legend of the map from the text).
The textual accounts for each of the species is thoroughly up-to-date and well-written, covering the significant details of natural history that would not conveniently fit on the summary pages. One feature of the text that this reviewer found somewhat irritating, however, was the spacing of the text itself; placed almost as though it was double-spaced, the text was not nearly as compact as it could have been, creating the impression of wasted room that could have been profitably used to include a few more North American taxa - doubtless this was due to the layout designer rather than the author.
As is virtually required for any work dealing with venomous animals, Rubio deals with the potential of envenomation by repeating the accepted modern view of first aid for such situations: there is basically no effective emergency treatment other than seeking medical attention as soon as possible. Similarly he deals with those who will inevitably be tempted to keep rattlesnakes by painting clearly the medical, financial, and possibly legal consequences of doing so.
All in all, with these few minor criticisms aside, Manny Rubio and ECO Herpetological Publishing and Distribution have created another worthy addition to their growing library of literature produced by herp enthusiasts for herp enthusiasts; it is highly recommended for anyone with an interest these iconic and fascinating creatures.
Literature Cited
Campbell, J. A. and W.W. Lamar. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. (2 vol.). Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. 870 pp.
Crother, B. I. (ed.). 2008. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. (6th ed.). SSAR Herp. Cir. 36, 84 pp.
Douglas, M.E., Douglas, M.R., Schuett, G.W., Porras, L.W. and A.T. Holycross. 2002. Phylogeography of the Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) complex, with emphasis on the Colorado Plateau, pp. 11-50, In Schuett, G.W., Hoggren, M., Douglas, M.E. and H.W. Greene [eds.]. 2002. Biology of the Vipers. Eagle Mountain Publishing. xii + 580 pp. + 16 plates.
Gloyd, H. K. 1940. The rattlesnakes, Genera Sistrurus and Crotalus. Chicago Acad. Sci. Special Publ. (4): 1-266.
Hubbs, B.R. and B.P. O'Connor. 2009. A Guide to the Rattlesnakes of the United States. Tempe, AZ: Tricolor Books. 96 pp.
Klauber, L. M. 1956. Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind, 2 Vol. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. 1476 pp.
Klauber, L. M. 1972. Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind, 2nd ed., 2 Vol. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. 1533 pp.
Klauber, L. M. 1997. Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind, 3rd ed., 2 Vol. (Foreword by H. W. Greene), Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. 1580 pp.
Rubio, Manny. 1998. Rattlesnake: Portrait of a Predator. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. 272 pp.