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a rattlesnake in a white plastic bucket. Photo shows the distinctive triangular shaped head of pit vipers and the tale with 14 "rattles". The snake's color is mostly brown with a series of dark brown patches surrounded by white and dark borders. Though it is called a "diamond back", the geometric shapes in its patterning are not really diamonds, at least not in this one. The last several inches of its tail, before the rattle are banded black-and-white. The black and white bands are approximately the same width, which, according to a herpetologist friend, is usually how you tell a western diamondback rattlesnake from a Mojave rattlesnake. O the Mojave rattlesnakes, the black bands are narrower, but this is not 100% diagnostic. The way to really tell is to look at the scales on the back of the head. This particular snake is covered in very small fine scales, which is diagnostic for Western diamondbacks. Mojave rattlesnakes have larger plate-like scales on their heads.