Salvadora hexalepis
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Salvadora hexalepis, the western patch-nosed snake, is a species of non-venomous colubrid snake, which is endemic to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is found in the southwestern United States in the states of Arizona, southern California, Nevada, southern New Mexico, and southwestern Texas. It is also found in northern Mexico in the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Sonora.
The western patch-nosed snake inhabits arid deserts in its area. It feeds upon lizards, snakes, reptile eggs, and small rodents. 4-10 eggs are laid during spring or early summer and hatch in August through... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Patch-nosed Snake sighting in Zion National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 20th most-seen of the 21 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–June and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Patch-nosed Snake in Zion National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July–August and November–March, the lowest months. Those are among Zion National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 75 mm in March.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Patch-nosed Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Western Patch-nosed Snake sightings, Zion National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Death Valley National Park (United States, about 30%), Joshua Tree National Park (United States, about 20%) and El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 20%).
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Western Patch-nosed Snake that you can see in Zion National Park (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Gopher Snake (about 40%), Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (about 30%) and Striped Whipsnake (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Patch-nosed Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Zion National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
