LennyLames
Member
Late spring is full of wonders! My "snowbird" northern flicker woodpecker is back from its winter jaunt south of the border and has resumed its routine of hammering away at the satellite dish so early in the morning. Sounds like a jackhammer on a steel drum. My desert shrubs, ironwood and Palo Verde trees have produced vivid flowers, raising the pollen levels. My giant saguaro cacti have all started sprouting white flowers, bringing in Africanized killer bees by day, and rabid bats by night. And, almost a year after the initial sighting, my resident gigantic rattlesnake has emerged from hibernation. See
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/192263-herpetologists-amateur-pro-please-identity.html [sic] for the original thread.
I have been on on the lookout for it ever since temperatures have risen to the point that I've observed other snakes laying on the roads absorbing the heat.
Since my first encounter as described in the aforementioned thread, I've seen the snake numerous times at the same spot next to the compost bin. At times it would disappear for a week or so as it presumably went into hiding to digest whatever prey it caught. Then it would reappear at the same spot awaiting its next meal. It became an informal attraction for guests. My brother-in-law was visiting for a week and kept looking for it but his trip happened to span a digestion cycle, and thus, he never saw it in person. It was there the day before he arrived, and it reappeared the day after he left. My dad was visiting for a month and he got a couple of chances to see it, and found out firsthand how well camouflaged it is. I kept pointing at the spot where it was coiled in plain view, and it took a while before he could discern it even with binoculars, and he has very good vision.
I reviewed the previous responses to my original thread and some of them were spot-on. Even the venomous snake expert from the Phoenix Herpetological Society who does extensive field studies on local rattlesnakes confirmed that the markings are definitely that of a Western Diamondback. He reiterated that I was very lucky not to have been bitten during that first encounter. He proceeded to remind me that it is a protected species and that I have the option of having it captured and moved, but it would most likely just be replaced by another one.
That very first encounter had given me justification to purchase a nice pair of snake boots. I'm sure this snake can strike above the top edge of the boot but the herpetologist said the lowest extremities are the most common bite areas and many bite victims were wearing flip-flops or sandals that afford minimum protection. I also read that a common profile of bite victims is that they're male, young to middle-aged, and inebriated (glad my brother-in-law didn't encounter it)
.
Behaviorally, this is most likely a female because it stays in the same location whereas males tend to wander around in search of cloaca. It probably had baby rattlesnakes in July/August (expecting another brood later this year) but their mortality rate is extremely high.
In this recent encounter, the snake behaved very differently. As I had posted last year, I unknowingly stepped within inches of it, and it neither moved nor rattled. There were several discussions as to why it did not rattle. This time, after I took a photo and circled around for another angle about 12 feet from it, it started rattling then reared up as if threatening to strike (although the herpetologist said it often strikes directly from the coiled, head-rested position as seen in the photos), then retreated into a nearby hole. I surmise that this time, I was exhibiting aggressive behavior by looking at it directly while approaching it. Or, perhaps, it was just ornery after having just awakened after months of hibernation.
Here are 2 photos. The first one is from last year and the second one is more recent, taken last week. They appear to be the same individual, but what do I know? "Dem snake all look alike to me."
Photo of last year's viper.
Most recent photo taken May 1, 2012
Same individual? Are their photo IDs sufficient?
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/192263-herpetologists-amateur-pro-please-identity.html [sic] for the original thread.
I have been on on the lookout for it ever since temperatures have risen to the point that I've observed other snakes laying on the roads absorbing the heat.
Since my first encounter as described in the aforementioned thread, I've seen the snake numerous times at the same spot next to the compost bin. At times it would disappear for a week or so as it presumably went into hiding to digest whatever prey it caught. Then it would reappear at the same spot awaiting its next meal. It became an informal attraction for guests. My brother-in-law was visiting for a week and kept looking for it but his trip happened to span a digestion cycle, and thus, he never saw it in person. It was there the day before he arrived, and it reappeared the day after he left. My dad was visiting for a month and he got a couple of chances to see it, and found out firsthand how well camouflaged it is. I kept pointing at the spot where it was coiled in plain view, and it took a while before he could discern it even with binoculars, and he has very good vision.
I reviewed the previous responses to my original thread and some of them were spot-on. Even the venomous snake expert from the Phoenix Herpetological Society who does extensive field studies on local rattlesnakes confirmed that the markings are definitely that of a Western Diamondback. He reiterated that I was very lucky not to have been bitten during that first encounter. He proceeded to remind me that it is a protected species and that I have the option of having it captured and moved, but it would most likely just be replaced by another one.
That very first encounter had given me justification to purchase a nice pair of snake boots. I'm sure this snake can strike above the top edge of the boot but the herpetologist said the lowest extremities are the most common bite areas and many bite victims were wearing flip-flops or sandals that afford minimum protection. I also read that a common profile of bite victims is that they're male, young to middle-aged, and inebriated (glad my brother-in-law didn't encounter it)
.Behaviorally, this is most likely a female because it stays in the same location whereas males tend to wander around in search of cloaca
. It probably had baby rattlesnakes in July/August (expecting another brood later this year) but their mortality rate is extremely high.In this recent encounter, the snake behaved very differently. As I had posted last year, I unknowingly stepped within inches of it, and it neither moved nor rattled. There were several discussions as to why it did not rattle. This time, after I took a photo and circled around for another angle about 12 feet from it, it started rattling then reared up as if threatening to strike (although the herpetologist said it often strikes directly from the coiled, head-rested position as seen in the photos), then retreated into a nearby hole. I surmise that this time, I was exhibiting aggressive behavior by looking at it directly while approaching it. Or, perhaps, it was just ornery after having just awakened after months of hibernation.
Here are 2 photos. The first one is from last year and the second one is more recent, taken last week. They appear to be the same individual, but what do I know? "Dem snake all look alike to me."
Photo of last year's viper.
Most recent photo taken May 1, 2012
Same individual? Are their photo IDs sufficient?
