Help identifying snake? (Southern California) I just got home after a brief, surprise thunderstorm ... to find a pretty good size snake lounging in the breezeway at the garage side door. (Presumably, it was seeking shelter from the rain?) * Could anyone please **identify this type of snake**? * Is it poisonous? * And in any case, is it likely to bite if it felt disturbed or provoked? Thank you very much in advance! **Diameter** : ~~4cm (~~1.5") **Length** : ~~1m (~2-3'+) [though hard to say, since it's only been seen curled up] **Location** : Southern California, mountainous desert region (~3K' altitude) !snake pix 1 !snake pix 2 **EDIT** (~11pm PT): It's still there. :O

Almost certainly the Western Rattlesnake ( _Crotalus viridis_ , which is probably the most common rattlesnake in California. It has the characteristic fat body and stripes of a Rattlesnake.

Western rattlesnakes are very common in much of the western part of the USA from southern Canada south into Mexico and across the Great Plains.

See second link for photos with similar colouration to yours.

Like all rattlesnakes, it is venomous and will bite and envenomate when threatened. Get a professional to deal with it.