Ducati Monster Forum

They discovered a couple under the house.  ;)

https://youtu.be/Xxn8CFyc9SA

   Not clicking  [wasn't]

There’s rattlesnake cakes, there’s fried rattlesnake, there’s grilled rattlesnake...   [drool]

The other, other other white meat.

That's a whole lotta Nope Rope.

 :o

Just a few snakes...

https://youtu.be/a7m76PZ_ZZY

Same   :P


I know there are piles and piles of them hibernating in some of the open spaces I visit in the colder months.  Just this morning it was nice and warm and I wondered if any would be out of their dens warming up in the sun during our walk.  Fortunately didn't see or hear any.   

Stepped on more than a few rocks with these guys underneath back in the day.  :P

That's why the boots had 14" leather uppers...

While we don't have a lot of buzzworms up here at high elevation, I've found my share in other places around Arizona. Mostly Arizona Blacks, which aren't highly aggressive, but will get your attention if you get too close. Like the time I was fumbling down a slot canyon and reached for a root to steady myself - which seemed a bad idea when it started to rattle. My hiking partner, an accomplished nature photographer & videographer, took lots of pictures and then asked me if I could step a bit closer to get him/her to rattle again while he shot some video. Well, who wouldn't say yes to such a polite request?  He got his video, and everyone went on their way, no worse for encounter.

The Mojave Greens I've seen have a reputation bad attitudes and a really nasty neurotoxin in their venom, but most of my encounters with them were when they were out in the open and apparently had just fed, so were in a generally forgiving mood.

The biggest rattler I've ever seen was in the Monongahela NF in West Virginia, a great big fat guy at around 3' who'd also just fed. Good thing, too, because the three people I was hiking with stepped right over him/her like a stick, with me at the back of the line noticing that something about that log was just a little hinky.

I watched both videos and read all the posts.

This whole thread makes me uncomfortable.

The "good" thing about Rattlesnakes is that they will give you a warning. Water moccasins, Cottonmouths,...not so much

 :-X

I've been told older rattlers will often dry strike if they're only feeling somewhat threatened. Young ones are too young to know to save the venom and they strike like crazy and get your boot all venom soaked.

From a guy that was a national park worker I met in a state park while he was rock climbing in his off hours.

He said these things would sun themselves on the cliff faces and pretty much ignore you while you climbed.

He said what really bothered him was spider webs and millions of spiders going nuts when he cleared the webs.

 Not a rattlesnake, but hell yeaah.

https://apple.news/AnUeKpuvCTbqzKJ3Y5gOKUQ

:o