 The cryptic coloration and calm demeanor of this subspecies often allows it to escape detection from passersby.It feeds on squirrels, mice, lizards, and birds.Some researchers list this taxon as elevated to a full species as (Crotalus abyssus), or as a subspecies of the Great Basin Rattlesnake (Crotalus lutosus) as (Crotalus lutosus abyssus), in the Annotated Checklist of the Rattlesnakes (Second Edition), published in The Biology of Rattlesnakes II 2017.