Diamondback Rattler peacefully resting in a desert wash. |
Frodo is our snake spotter. He found the camouflaged rattler |
Happy Laika then hoped for her treat. Indignant snake reorganized its coils. My heart got back into its, albeit accelerated, rhythm.
But wait, then comes Bilbo! Hot on Laika's tracks, but lighter, younger, more elegantly only just skimming the snake.
Resting after the excitement. Bilbo now on the leash, behind him Laika, Frodo. Mecki and I are not in any photo because we are operating the camera |
Does the rattler look grumpy now? This picture was taken after the assault ... can you tell?
P.S. On this balmy morning the rattler was probably warm enough to be active. But it was resting after a presumably active night. With day temps close to 100 degree Fahrenheit, the snake will spend the rest of the coming day in a cool rodent burrow and go hunting again in the evening (if he's already hungry again) But for now, this shady spot in the sandy wash must have been so pleasant that it would have taken more than some 70 pound dogs barreling over it to make it rattle, strike or leave.
They can be amazingly lethargic - especially when cool. And maybe for this species in this locale at this time of year it seemed "cool" to it. I encountered rattlers in San Diego Co. that simply did not want to move when coiled in the morning.
ReplyDeletelol...I just read about Laika the Russian Space Dog last night...and just stories about snakes makes my heart rate go up!
ReplyDeleteWhen we found Laika at the Pound, she was totally spaced out and on the list to be euthanized soon. Her name refers to the space dog, but I later found out that there is a breed of dogs in Russia that is called Laika and looks exactly like ours, not like the space dog
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