Whatever Weds. Surprise!

Posted in Photography, Reptiles, SNAKES, Whatever WednesdayTagged , , , , , ,

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I’ve been updating and cleaning up my birding records which has me going back in my files 15 years. In the Spring of 2011 several friends and I went to Death Valley and on the way home we stopped to photograph wildflowers in a big field by the side of the road, well you’ve heard the saying, beware of a snake in the grass. Beware of Rattlesnakes in the wildflowers!

That’s not the closest I’ve come to a Rattlesnake while hiking, but it was too close for comfort even with my 300mm lens.

Then we backed out of the field and headed back to our cars only to discover another Western Diamondback coiled up sleeping beside the tire of my friend’s car soaking up the warmth from the sand and car engine! The driver had to get in via the passenger side of the car.

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

It was quite the adventure!

Nikon D300S| Nikkor 70-300mm@300mm| PS CC 25.4

Happy Valentine’s Day!💗

more to come…

60 thoughts on “Whatever Weds. Surprise!”

    1. I get that! I wasn’t feeling that brave myself, my retreat in my mind wasn’t fast enough!

      One evening several summers back He-Man and I were having our evening walk and we decided to come back via the golf course and as we were walking along I was searching the rabbitbrush and sagebrush looking for birds so not paying attention to the pathway at all. When all the sudden I heard at my feet a very loud HISS! I jumped so high and looking at the same time I saw at my feet a very large Gophersnake standing up, hissing at me while also moving back toward the bush as fast as it could. We scared each other!! We made eye contact in that instant. My heart was racing and I’m sure that Gophersnakes was too.
      I laugh about it now, but at the time it was scary.

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  6. I have come across a few on my walks, but I have been lucky enough to always have my distance. That is spooky, to have one waiting for you at the car! Don’t think I would stop there for pictures again!

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  7. Nature and danger. It is part of being out there and teaches us be mindful of our surroundings. Often times when I’m out photographing, I’ll pause and look around behind me. You never know what could be watching you.

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  9. I rarely see a snake, but I know they’re around; I learned to stay out of the tall grass when I stepped on one. I can’t say what the species was, but it was coiled up having a little rest, and from the way it felt underfoot, it was big. In that case, we both were surprised. He went one way, and I went the other, and all was well. How cool that you got such great photos of these. I’ve heard that rattlers like the dunes, too. It’s probably for the same reason: the warmth of the sand.

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  21. I lived in rattlesnake country for 20 years and saw them often, but never two in the same day! What I appreciate is that you and your friends just let them be and all was fine. Great photos, Deborah.

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