Rattlesnakes
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This little friend was quite defensive. I keep a respective distance when photographing rattlesnakes, but as I shifted positions a bit while laying on my belly, this one lunged out so hard that he flipped himself upside down. At the same time, making my heart skip a beat or two.
"Defeating the elements."
A nemesis defeated, after several failed attempts at locating a Great Basin Rattlesnake (Crotalus lutosus) in California, I was rewarded with my lifer.
The Eastern Sierra Nevada, and Eastern California has given myself a challenge. Every trip has either ended early, or simply slim pickings due to weather either it be a massive rainstorms, thunderstorms, or dramatic sudden cold spell sweeping the area. This trip was absolutely no exception, while this area may very well hate me, it's an intriguing area that I'm enjoying and planning on returning often.
A friend had told me a new area to check out for C. lutosus, upon arriving to the location, I was unable to locate any of the features associated with C. lutosus, having a second goal of the trip. Wandering Gartersnakes (Thamnophis vagrans) I headed towards another locale in search of them. With it being a holiday weekend, and having the winds pick up with scattering rainstorms coming in. I was also unable to turn one up.
I then headed to an area where I had been to various time in search for C. lutosus, the rains hit on my trek towards my destination. Passing some grey volcanic rock, I noticed it was it bit paler than I had previously recalled knocking it off as not noticing. Upon arriving to an area I had scouted, I discovered the true reason why the rocky mountain side was "paler" than I had recalled. There was 1.5-3" of hail pockets everywhere, and the temperatures had dropped 20F.
I parked my truck, and started hiking towards where I thought I had scouted on previous trips, regardless that my optimism had disappeared due to the hail and temperature drop. I shortly found that I wasn't at where I had previously scouted, feeling defeated and enthusiasm nearly dissipated, I drove further up the road, and spotted the location I intended to visit. Getting out of my truck I immediately noticed it was 10-15F warmer here, less hail pockets as well. While checking some cracks I seen Desert Striped Whipsnake (Coluber taeniatus) and C. lutosus sheds, I slowly lifted two rock, hoping a young of either species was stuck out underneath one of them. Both rocks were vacant, as I stood back up, 3' in front of me, my lifer Crotalus lutosus was half stretched out, coming from a crack.
My first California lifer in years.
7/25/17
Neonate Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake (Crotalus willardi willardi) photographed while on the move at night, southeastern Arizona
Newborn willardi are hypothesized to use their dark tails as lures. A study showed that willardi babies loose their first rattle segment, the button, resulting in "effectively silent cohorts for approximately the first year of life." - Setser et al. 2011 Copeia 45:333-335
northern pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) - Contra Costa County, CA, USA
I visited a few areas I had checked out during colder weather which looked promising and found this single young rattlesnake. I photographed this rattlesnake at length, and the snake showed zero signs of any aggression or defensiveness. It merely flicked its tongue - its equivalent of sniffing the air, and didn't budge. Really a very placid critter. Notice its tiny little button rattle! As it grows older and sheds, more segments will be added to the rattle. I'm bad at estimating total size especially when a snake is coiled like this, but the diameter of the entire 'coil' at the widest portion was no more than 3 inches. This snake would have comfortably fit in my palm, not that I would recommend doing that. At this size, its a terror to the fence lizards that scampered all over the nearby rocks but as it grows larger it will switch to more rodent prey.