Where plastic toys often fail in species diversity plush toys seem to shockingly excel. The Wild Republic line of plush animals is a major player in the plush animal game and responsible for much of this diversity. Although I don’t collect plush animals I do have a young daughter, as well as an eye for quality toys, so our house has a lot of these plush animals sitting around, including the 54” (137 cm) blue rock rattlesnake (Crotalus lepidus) we’ll be looking at today.
Rattlesnakes as a group are all American animals; the 32 species described are unique solely to the Americas with their diversity strongest in the southwest United States and Mexico. The rock rattlesnake is also from the southwest U.S. and Mexico and somewhat of an obscure species. I’m not aware of any plastic rock rattlesnakes that exist; most toy rattlesnakes represent the well known and widely distributed timber and diamondback rattlesnakes.
Wild Republic actually makes two different colored rock rattlesnakes, this blue one as well as a green rock rattlesnake. They’re the same species although four sub-species of rock rattlesnake exist. Rock rattlesnakes are known to be the same color as the rocky outcrops they inhabit, so blue rock rattlesnakes live amongst blue-gray colored rocks. Because of this there is a lot of regional variation in rock rattlesnakes.
This plush snake is indeed blue, perhaps a little too blue but that certainly makes it more appealing to its target demographic. It at least looks more accurate than Wild Republic’s strange purple timber rattlesnake. Actual rock rattlesnakes only reach about 32” (81.3 cm) so this plush is much larger than actual size. Wild Republic makes their snakes in several size ranges and they even have a 113” (287 cm) size range!
Plush toys are usually greatly simplified and cute caricatures of the species they represent. Still, it has to be identifiable as the species it represents too. This rattlesnake has the blue coloration of course but also black banding and speckling down the body. A pink forked tongue sticks out of the broad, triangular head. The eyes are elliptical just as with actual rattlesnakes. One of the coolest features of this toy, and all the Wild Republic rattlesnakes, is the working rattle at the end of the tail. In jingles when you shake it!
The Wild Republic blue rock rattlesnake is one of the most popular and fun plush toys in our house. Its vibrant colors, large size, and working rattle make it a lot of fun at play time and so far it has stood up well to several years of intense play. Wild Republic makes a slew of different snake species, from the common to obscure. If you or your little one are into snakes you won’t find a better plush one than these.
Welcome to the world of plush!