Venomous. Grayish, yellowish, or light brown background with dark, jagged crossbands and rust-colored middorsal stripe. Head with darker band from eye to jawline, though less obvious in some individuals. Heat-sensing pits. Eyes elliptical. Velvet tail with rattle. 
Arkansas Herpetological Atlas 2019
This species is represented by 270 records from 31 sources: 141 museum (
), 0 literature (
), 0 research (
), and 89 observation (
), with 40 additional Trauth et al. (2004) locality points remaining unsourced (
). It has been museum vouchered for 49 of 75 counties (), with 15 additional counties having other forms of reported occurrence (). Years of collection range from 1861 to present.
This species essentially occurs statewide, but large gaps without verifiable records remain. Significant portions of its historical range in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and South Central Plains have succumbed to major landscape level habitat loss/alteration via intensive agricultural and silvicultural practices.
