Herpetologists (amateur or pro), please identity this.

[LennyLames]

This afternoon, I walked outside to dump some old bananas and stale bread in our compost bin. A few feet away from the bin is one of the (north side) central air conditioning units. I decided to step onto its concrete platform to check on it, then I took a few steps back to close the compost bin. At this time of year, this part of the yard is shaded all day by the house.

My heart skipped a beat when my eyes focused on this. It was coiled right between the compost bin and the AC unit. I can't imagine how I missed stepping on it, and I'm sure my lower appendages came to within a few inches of it.

It appeared to be laying in a slight depression that it dug in the ground. Outside air temperature was in the 80s.

I rushed back inside to get the camera. Alas, the good quality digital camera was left in the spouse's office, but I was able to use a low resolution phone camera. I tried to look for the telltale rattles, but couldn't spot them then. However, later examination of the photos reveals what appears to be rattles located to the left of the head.

This is the longest, fattest snake I've seen in the area. The girth is about 4x the other snakes that I've seen previously. I did not observe any movement from it.

I always thought I was very capable of discerning a snake's camouflage, but I now realize that they're much easier to spot if they're straightened out. Somehow, the lack of a straight line in nature makes the coils more difficult to see. I consider myself extremely lucky not to have been bitten. Perhaps it was in a state of estivation, or it had just eaten, or perhaps, it's dead. I didn't want to poke it or provoke it just to see if it would move. I just left it there to hopefully feast on the smaller desert mammals that destroy my cactus plantings.

 

[bgrafsr]

Wow, you are one lucky person. I would say it is a Western Diamondback.

Arizona Rattlesnakes

 

[charlie sherrill]

Looks like some kind of diamondback from here. They don't always have rattles and those that do don't always use them.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

It's a snake.

 

[LennyLames]

I looked for it after a couple of hours. It had moved to a new location so it definitely wasn't dead; I was just extremely lucky not to have been bitten. Here is its last known position right next to the south side of the black compost bin. It's difficult to see but it's on the lower right quadrant of the photo.

When I had almost stepped on it earlier, it was on the west side of the compost bin, between the bin and the concrete pad the you see in the background.

Correct on the absence of a warning rattle.

I've had some problems with animals around this compost bin. Javelinas had learned to raise open the bottom sliding door to eat and scatter the "fresher" contents. I had to wire it shut. A few weeks ago, I found a rat that had chewed a hole in a plastic panel and made a nest inside. After a few days to surveillance to ascertain that the culprit was always there during daytime hours, I conducted a stealth operation by closing off the entry/escape hole, lifting the top off, then attacking with a shovel. It was a bloody, shrieking end that added to the compost.

I suspect this snake has detected the presence of other small warm-blooded mammals. I'll just leave it alone for now.

 

[mc5aw]

The shape of the head tells you that it's a rattler, along with the scale markings. You're extremely lucky you didn't step on him. Your assertion that he's found a convenient dining area sounds reasonable, so tread lightly in the future.

 

[Evil Dog]

Tread softly and carry a 12 gauge

 

[Texas Star]

Western Diamondbacks are usually pretty cranky. The photos are awful (understandable), but this may be a Mojave rattler. If it was, you are indeed very fortunate not to have been bitten.

That species looks a lot like the WD, but many populations of it have strong neurotoxic elements in the venom. That will kill you faster and more surely than most Crotalus venoms. (The WD will also kill some victims, though.)

There are a couple of other rattlers here with neurotoxic venom, and the Tropical Rattler, Crotalus durissus and its subspecies also have very potent neurotoxins.

Be very careful of the Pygmy and Massasauga rattlers, those of you who live near them. They are considerably more potent than was once thought.

If you live where the Mojave rattler does, get a GOOD snake ID book and study it and take it and the dead snake to the doctor, if bitten. The therapy will be different if the snake is the Mojave form.

You may also be in range of the Southern Pacific rattler. That one hits a lot of people in California. If you saw the Animal Planet shows with Dr. Sean Bush a couple of years ago, that was probably the snake that Dr. Bush most often treated victims of. Many were in very bad shape.

T-Star

 

[oldman45]

I would have shot it with a gun before doing so with a camera.

To me, there are more snakes in the world than should be and I am doing my part to rid the world of snakes of any kind. Thus far, in 9 yrs at this house, I have gotten rid of 17 Cotton Mouths and one rattlesnake.

They bite people, both adults and children. They bite pets. The snake you took a photo of could have bitten you and may do so during your next meeting. Also consider that snakes have friends & family that travels with them. A snake does not have any business in a residential area.

 

[Cobroller]

You are not alone.

...
I looked for it after a couple of hours. It had moved to a new location so it definitely wasn't dead; I was just extremely lucky not to have been bitten. Here is its last known position right next to the south side of the black compost bin. It's difficult to see but it's on the lower right quadrant of the photo.

When I had almost stepped on it earlier, it was on the west side of the compost bin, between the bin and the concrete pad the you see in the background.
....

Second sighting may have been a different snake. They do mate and reproduce. Tread carefully.

 

[Ga Johnny]

he's hanging around that compost bin for a reason, hunting any prey that may be in or around it eating your scraps before they rot down, or maybe looking for warmth during the cool of the night given off by the decomp in that pile. He most likely had a belly full off something when you walked by.

This may be a good time to start keeping a shotgun by the door

 

[badguybuster]

Although the pics are pretty bad (i understand), it is definitely NOT a Western DB, the markings are wrong. I would second the Mojave.

 

[badguybuster]

Western Diamondback Pic. Note the distinct white banding

 

[jeepjeepwhat]

he's hanging around that compost bin for a reason, hunting any prey that may be in or around it eating your scraps before they rot down, or maybe looking for warmth during the cool of the night given off by the decomp in that pile. He most likely had a belly full off something when you walked by.

This may be a good time to start keeping a shotgun by the door

beat me too it. snakes like food, and heat a compost pile gives them both.

I know I always pick the hotel with a diner in the lobby.

 

[enfield]

I watched a program on rattlers recently. It suggested that the snakes are not rattling as much as they used to. It seems that rattling is anti-survival for the snakes - it gets them captured or killed.

 

[jimmyj]

WHY DID YOU NOT KILL IT??

 

[Pete99004]

If I would have been the one to come across that - my Ithaca 37 would have been what I brought back to the second visit...there would be no need for a camera to photograph the "spot" that was left.

 

[Stainz]

It was a BAD snake! To make it a 'GOOD' snake, you must redistribute it in pieces. While I have 'hoed' an eastern rattler - and a copperhead - I would second (... or third!) the scattergun at the ready suggestion - maybe, since this is the S&W Lounge, a new 'Governor' is in order?

Stainz

 

[woodsltc]

Good eatin.....tastes like chicken!

Try this: http://www.rattlesnakerecipe.us/

 

[CelticSire]

That's a darn good start to a custom holster and gun belt, is what that is.