Here's me with my makeshift broom noose after I got the snake and crawled up out of the crawlspace.
I was all suited up because of the heavy dust and rat turds under there. It was ...a day.
Free at last! I took it several hundred yards away to the edge of the wild desert where there was a giant fallen pile of brush so at least it can get safe and get its bearings while it figures out where it wants to go next.
Bitey snake in the bucket. Such a handsome guy. Western diamondback. They're very common around here.
The black-and-white stripes are to help call visual attention to the rattle and the sound that the snake is making. Rattlesnakes are generally reclusive and rarely aggressive. The purpose of the rattle is to warn you off.
This is a form of aposematism, a very clear warning that this animal is not good to eat or mess with. Is it fascinating evolutionary adaptation. Wikipedia has a good discussion of it. Worth following some of the links too!
Visiting this gorgeous Western Diamondback (Crotalus atrox) showing off that iconic diamond pattern.
One of North America's most formidable pit vipers β best appreciated through glass.
#Rattlesnake #Herpetology #snek https://www.cernunnosfoundation.com/nature-pictures/western-diamondback-rattlesnake/
It's not your imagination. This is a weird #rattlesnake season. Here's what's happening
Emily Taylor has lived in California for 20 years and has never gotten as many calls about rattlesnakes as she did last month.
Taylor owns Central Coast Snake Services, a serpent consulting business, directs the Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Laboratory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is part of a network of volunteers who help ethically relocate rattlesnakes into the wild.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-01/its-not-your-imagination-this-is-weird-rattlesnake-season-heres-whats-happening
Red Diamond Rattlesnake 4
Be careful out there. #snake #rattlesnake #nature #wildlife
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