So I went out for another night ride on my bike looking for critters. And I must say I had a very successful evening. I was driving down Bush Hwy along the Salt River when I saw something in the road. I turned back and found this baby Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake. Very tiny. So I grabbed a stick and moved him off the side of the road. I continued on and soon came across another small snake on the shoulder. I took a picture or two before I realized it was a Mojave Rattlesnake. Now I've briefly mentioned this before, but there are about four ways you can tell the difference between a Diamond-backed and a Mojave. I know most people could care less but for those who find this interesting, here it is. The Diamond-backed is pictured above and the Mojave below.
1. Look at the tail: They both have black and white stripes, yes, but there is a difference. The Western has roughly the same sized black and white stripes while the Mojave has smaller black stripes. Still, this can be difficult to determine by itself. 
2. Look at the head: They both have two stripes on the side of their face. One in front of the eye and one behind. The eye stripe behind is the difference. On the Western, it is more vertical and crosses the lip. On the Mojave it slants more and does not cross the lip. You can tell in the picture of the Mojave very well that this is the case. Look further in the post for the larger picture of a Western to see this feature better. 3. Look to the Diamonds: Now it is true that they both have diamonds. Odd that only the Western is called the Diamond-backed. But if you look at the coloration of the diamonds, the Western has a "salt and pepper" look to it. The scales seem to be dark and light. In the Mojave they are a more solid color. I agree, this is not the easiest way to determine the species.
4. Look back to the head: This one requires you to be the closest to the snakes head, which is why I don't recommend it as a determining factor. But if it's dead or something and you are checking, look at the scales on the top of the head from the eyes back. The Western DB has very small scales covering the entire head up until the eyes where it still has several scales at least between the eyes (or the supraoculars (scales above the eyes)). The Mojave has a plate like scales from its eyes back to the middle of the head. So the scales are much larger and therefore fewer in number. (Information expanded upon from my book A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona).
I continued riding and went up to Usery Park and back. On the way back I stopped for a snake. It was a baby Gopher snake DOR unfortunately. My next stop was the Salt River parking lot by the bridge. I walked down to the river and saw what I call the Wild Horses of the Salt River. There were 6 of them including two colts that I haven't seen before. I decided to cross the bridge and hike down closer to them on the other side of the river. In total I saw between 6 to 8 skunks from the river to the parking lot. I drove across and parked and was about to place my hand down to jump over the concrete walkway railing when I saw a bark scorpion where my had was about to be placed. 
As I was making my way down to the river I kept seeing the kangaroo rats everywhere--really small ones too. As I was walking between two large trees I heard one on the right so I was looking at it and heard another one to the right. As I turned I realized it was actually a large Western DB! I took these pictures and then, as I had been wanting to taste rattlesnake, I killed it (sparing you the details). It was still moving for quite a while without the head as the muscles loosen up. So jumping ahead, I skinned it at home and prepared it for eating the next day. From an article I read, I put it in the freezer covered in salt water. This morning I thawed it out and then marinated it in Teriyaki sauce. Then this evening I grilled them and they were...quite delicious. Much better than I had imagined. Even my mom, who thought they wouldn't taste good at all, liked it. I searched for recipes but ended up just mixing a few together and it turned out well. You can find some videos on Youtube that show you how to skin them. Next time I want to tan the skin too. We'll see. And maybe make my own video showing how to skin them. 
I made my way down closer to the horses and as I was shining my light I saw a bunch of eyes at water level moving around. As I got closer I realized they were raccoons. A whole family. I never would have thought I'd see them right down at the Salt River. But there they were just fishing in the night. The horses were right behind them on a small "island" of grass. On my way home I stopped by the place where I had seen the Mojave and sure enough he had decided to cross and got run over. But I was able to get a closer look at the features that distinguish it from the Western DB such as the plates on his head. 
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