Friday, May 18, 2012

Rattlesnakes

I saw two Western Diamondback rattlesnakes so far this year.  The first snake (observed April 9th) is hard to see as it blends in with the creosote bush it was under.


This snake was full grown, a good four feet long.


The black and white section of the tail is the easiest part of the snake to see.


Today I saw a much smaller rattlesnake slowly crossing the road.


Much easier to see!




I didn't hear any rattling.


A short video:

25 comments:

Salitype said...

have never seen the tail of the snake before, maybe not paying too much attention.

am scared just looking at them !

Cheryl Ann said...

Oh, man! I'm so jealous! I haven't seen a live rattler yet this spring and they ARE out there! My son and I did see a dark racer slither across the road down by his house a few late afternoons ago. It was about 6:30 p.m. and I thought it was a black ribbon in the road! Nope. It was a LIVE snake!

Anonymous said...

I have not seen a rattler in years. They don't live here, although there are a few in southern Vermont. We haven't seen any snakes so far this spring, yet we know they are around. Anyway, thank you for keeping a keen eye on the Natural world.

Ramakrishnan said...

Such a wonderful post - and you are so fortunate to be able to see rattlesnakes in their natural environment.Have a great week end.

betchai said...

oh, your post reminds me to stay on the trails, always, am scared of rattlesnakes, but i don't let my fear stop me from hiking. beautiful shots of rattlesnakes in their habitat.

rainfield61 said...

Snake!!

Rattlesnake!!!

This is a danger sign that asks me to

LEAVE immediately.

Gaelyn said...

Wonderful to see, at least from a bit of distance.

angryparsnip said...

Great photos. So glad you gave him lots of room.
I really dislike when the hungry Mum and the young baby come out after winter. The babies are so crazy they will strike at anything.
I have a huge black king snake that lives around the west side of my home. I love him because he eats all sorts of critters I don't like and the rattlesnakes ! I have named him Oswald.

Have a lovely weekend, it will be hot but we will have the solar eclipse to look at.

cheers, parsnip

Thérèse said...

A good idea idea to let him cross unharmed!

Icy BC said...

I would be too scare to take pictures. Great photos, Diane!

Spare Parts and Pics said...

Wonderful post and photos! I haven't seen a snake of any kind this year. The snakes themselves don't frighten me, but I do worry about stepping on one... they blend in so incredibly well (like with your creosote photo) they can be very hard to spot when out hiking in the desert.

drops_of_life said...

amazing n wonderful:)

Barb said...

When I visited the desert we saw 2 - dead on the road.

Julie said...

OMG...i would be petrified if i saw a snake this big! Faint right away!!!

Teresa said...

better you than me!

Betty Manousos said...

aww, amazing! but i'm scared...just looking at them.
hope your're having a great weekend.

xx

Rohrerbot said...

Creepy. Awesome. Heebie Jeebies for sure.....but a neat guy to have around....with just a little distance. Love the vid. Very slow moving on a road. The worst part about being a snake here is that people will go out of their way to run them over and that bothers me. Glad this guy made it across.

RIZALENIO said...

You captured it perfectly. I'll run fast with the sight of this. :)

Magpie said...

I am very surprised at how the snake moved. Not nearly as much body movement as I would have expected. Tracy will not leave a comment...she hates snakes.

Darla said...

Great captures! While I don't get freaked out by snakes, I don't think I want to come across a poisonous one. :-) And it would have been lovely if Mother Nature had made the Rattlesnake's *head* more colorful instead of the tail since the tail isn't what I worry about biting! LOL

Martha Z said...

This is a very snaky year around here. So far I have only encountered on rattle snake but plenty of racers and gopher snakes.

Janie said...

They are so well camouflaged in the bushes. Be careful where you step!

Lindy said...

Excellent images and I'm glad you were able to particularly notice the one under the creosote bush, so as to keep your distance.

ΕΥΡΥΤΑΝΑΣ ΙΧΝΗΛΑΤΗΣ said...

Συγκλονιστικές photos. Η φύση όμως τα πάντα σοφά εποίησε!

Chomp said...

Colores del desierto reales, con grandes vivencias.

Saludos.