On the subject of rattlesnakes, it is important to watch where you walk in desert areas. Christine likes to run a 2.2 miles loop in Saguaro National Park (east). Early one morning I was hiking the loop alone and found this western diamondback lying just under a stepping stone directly in the middle of the path. With prickly pear cactus on either side of the path, it meant doing a little bush-wacking. (I would not recommend walking over a rattlesnake -- especially one that is coiled like this one). I thought it was a little dangerous to have him there, but as I have said before, I am not one to move a rattlesnake that doesn't want to be moved. Sometimes if one is stretched across a road I'll try to encourage it to move to the other side so it doesn't get run over. But, I have the utmost respect for rattlesnakes. Even when not fatal, a rattlesnake bite can take up to six months of severe pain before healing. Costs to treat a rattlesnake bite can be as much as $50,000. In my mind, that deserves respect. Having said that, rattlesnakes are NOT aggressive toward humans. We do not represent food to them. As a general rule, they don't want to inject their poison because it leaves them temporarily unprotected. So, they bite when threatened -- or, when eating. Usually, when you come across one they are on the move and you just let them continue. In our first year here, Christine and I were walking around the property when we both noticed this tiny little birds nest (a verdin). As we got closer we evidently scared off the verdin. This, however, had distracted us from watching where we were walking. At this point I heard a "rattle", looked down and saw a full size western diamondback rattlesnake coiled about three feet from Christine. Without thinking I pushed Christine away (as it turns out into a bit of cholla cactus) but, now out of danger. The rattlesnake wandered off about 15-20 feet and draped himself over some prickly pear cactus -- I guess exhausted from the "scare," which seemed to be Christine's reaction as well.
Hi, I just found your site while searching for pictures of Great Blue Herons. I wanted to say thanks so much for your pics and stories! And, I wanted to give you a little hint as to how to move a rattlesnake. without having to touch it: you can spit a little water at it. This usually gets it to scoot off a little from the trail an you can walk on. Anyway, thanks again!
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