Is This The Real Thing?

[+Adrenalynn]

 

At one time I helped to run the snake program for a local nature center. This snake looks to me like a Arizona black rattlesnake. I have never seen one of these snakes in person before, but I have seen other rattlesnakes. I have seen rattlesnakes seek sun or shade in the same place daily. Rattlesnakes will often stay motionless for long periods of time to avoid being seen. Here are some pictures I found of the Arizona black rattlesnake.

 

 

See how BLACK the black is? He didn't say where in Az, but you don't find them below about 4500ft because they're a high-altitude snake. I know this is slightly off-topic, but I'm still going to disagree with the Black ID. Speckled...

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Being nosey, I looked at the OP's caches from Az. Looks like he stayed in central/ southern Arizona and would not likely have encountered a high altitude snake like the black rattlesnake. It does look like a rattlesnake though.

 

One cache we went to, we didnt see any rattlesnakes. Got home, logged our cache and found a warning from the cacher just prior to us, saying he found a rattlesnake right at the cache location.

 

36 years in the desert, Ive seen one rattlesnake in the wild....at my front doorstep.

[+Adrenalynn]

Being nosey, I looked at the OP's caches from Az. Looks like he stayed in central/ southern Arizona and would not likely have encountered a high altitude snake like the black rattlesnake. It does look like a rattlesnake though.

 

One cache we went to, we didnt see any rattlesnakes. Got home, logged our cache and found a warning from the cacher just prior to us, saying he found a rattlesnake right at the cache location.

 

36 years in the desert, Ive seen one rattlesnake in the wild....at my front doorstep.

 

Yeah, I'm 100% certain it's NOT a black rattler. I'm 98% certain it's a Speckled Rattlesnake, ala my earlier post...

 

That's funny you've seen so few. I'm pretty surprised. I've seen all 18 species and subs with only 12 years in AZ/NM/CO. Of course, I was looking for them, which might have made a difference...

[grize]

"I hate snakes. The can move, they don't have legs. That ain't right. It's in the Bible." Edited April 10, 2006 by grize

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

I once worked on an archaeological site that had a known rattlesnake on one trail to a portion of the site. Most of the people I worked with saw that snake, or heard it. I never did.

 

They say that there are people who attract bears, and those who repel them. Maybe it is also true with rattlesnakes. If so, I like that. I would prefer never seeing a rattler (and it really not being there) than to see one in the wild if it means it is a threat to me, or that I might have to take action against it.

[+Adrenalynn]

I once worked on an archaeological site that had a known rattlesnake on one trail to a portion of the site. Most of the people I worked with saw that snake, or heard it. I never did.

 

They say that there are people who attract bears, and those who repel them. Maybe it is also true with rattlesnakes. If so, I like that. I would prefer never seeing a rattler (and it really not being there) than to see one in the wild if it means it is a threat to me, or that I might have to take action against it.

 

I saw my first of the year last night, chasing down an FTF... Alas, he was a very dead little yearling. Just two rattles and about 9" long. Not sure if he was killed by horses (he was on the horse trail) or the bizzarre weather we've had this year.

 

Between that and the Garter I took photos of last weekend, nature is reminding us here in the SacTown Valley to start watching where we're putting our hands and feet (and caches!)...

[+treasure_hunter]

 

No snake is poisonous.

 

Poison or no posion, venom or no venom I dont want anything to do with any snakes. Although I once found a cache that had a few "jokes" around it. There were snakes, and spiders, it wasnt hard to tell that these were fake but I have seen real snakes before within inches of the cache, and that was quiet scary.

[+hukilaulau]

Being nosey, I looked at the OP's caches from Az. Looks like he stayed in central/ southern Arizona and would not likely have encountered a high altitude snake like the black rattlesnake. It does look like a rattlesnake though.

 

 

Right. This was in Thunderbird Park just north of Phoenix. It was not black like the one in the excellent example posted. I've put up a couple more shots that have not been edited with photoshop. Those might more accurately show the color.

Thanks to the excellent responses here I'm convinced it was real and that it was some kind of rattler.

If it had moved there would have been no pics and a DNF!

I've been a little more cautious prowling around in the rocks, but actually local tales of bee attacks have me more worried than snakes do!

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Yep, africanized bees are troublesome. There have been many in the Phoenix area who have died from them. You have to learn to act a bit differently around them than you do other bees. For one, they will wait for you if you go into water to escape them. They like to sting around faces. They are more aggressive in defending their area and will chase you for a long time. We have other unpleasant critters out here. Black widows, our version of the brown recluse, and scorpions. You learn not to stick your hand in places you cant see.

 

Where are the photos? Which cache was this?

[+Adrenalynn]

Yep, africanized bees are troublesome. There have been many in the Phoenix area who have died from them. You have to learn to act a bit differently around them than you do other bees. For one, they will wait for you if you go into water to escape them. They like to sting around faces. They are more aggressive in defending their area and will chase you for a long time. We have other unpleasant critters out here. Black widows, our version of the brown recluse, and scorpions. You learn not to stick your hand in places you cant see.

 

Where are the photos? Which cache was this?

 

Yeah, flipping over wood and such, the most frightening thing in that list is either the bees or the Slendertail scorpion. Itty bitty almost translucent thing (fluoresces under blacklight) and venom that'd knock down a horse - and not afraid to use it. Nasty little buggers.

 

The upshot is that pretty much any critter that isn't rabid or otherwise ill will go out of their way to avoid a confrontation, and warn you you're about to get your butt kicked. Even the scorp's warn. The fear of these creatures is bred in misunderstanding, legend, and 2000+ year old ignorance in some aforementioned cases...

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Lol, have a scorpion run across your bare foot after midnight in your parents house sometime and tell me the fear is bred in misunderstanding etc.

[+Adrenalynn]

Lol, have a scorpion run across your bare foot after midnight in your parents house sometime and tell me the fear is bred in misunderstanding etc.

 

I woke up next to several, with a 4+" hairy on my "pillow" (jacket) once. I readily admit that it's kinda rude to wake up that way. They just wanted to get in where it was warm...

 

It's kinda hard to remind yourself that you are better off not startling them and returning the rudeness, that they may act rather poorly in that situation. So, yeah, I've been there. The worst was waking to a rattler in my sleeping bag. THAT's rude. Laying there, trying to control your breathing, not sure what kinda snake is cuddled up to you, and trying to figure out how the fudge you're going to extricate yourself from that situation... Screaming like a schoolgirl and pounding on the thing is probably not the greatest reaction, although it was certainly my first considered.

 

Slowly unzipping the bag and either letting him crawl out, or you crawl out (depending upon zip-side) was the best solution I could come up with. I don't buy mummy bags now, unless I *must*, and tend to keep my zipper on the top...

 

Even so, I've never been bitten by a rattler, and have only been stung twice by scorps, both times trying to get them to "pose" for the camera...

[HoverBeams]

Snakes can also strike the entire lenth of thier bodies. That is to say that a five foot snake can strike a person who is five feet away.

NOT TRUE! You should check your facts before posting something... this is particularly important when it's life or death. In this case, it's kind of OK that you're wrong because someone believing this would still be OK because they would be farther wawy from the snake instead of closer. However, if you do a search on GOOGLE and type in (snake "striking distance"), you will come up with 80,700 pages of info in support of the 1/2 the body length fact. Also, a snake does NOT have to be coiled to strike. It can strike in any position... even if you're holding it by the tail. So, BE CAREFUL!

 

You can use Google, ... and I can use Google,... but can the snake use Google??

 

We don't have rattlesnakes down under..don't need them what with brown snakes, black snakes, tiger snakes, taipans, etc. No, they can't use Google either!

[+hukilaulau]

 

Where are the photos? Which cache was this?

The cache is Three Peaks

Pics not great quality, but my hand was shaking a bit!

[+Deliveryguy428]

So back to the question at hand, is it real? or is it a fake?

[+Adrenalynn]

So back to the question at hand, is it real? or is it a fake?

 

Real.

 

Or a fake so good it also fake-bites and fake-envenomates.

[+FlatEarthSociety]

The head gives the snake away as a rattlesnake. He took that picture very close, thats pretty crazy.

I hid my first cache about a week ago, this is a serious hike through weeds waist high and up a mountain.

Well on way back down I was on top of a layer of rocks when I heard the distinct sound of a rattlesnake below me. It wasn't one of those bugs that make the fake rattle sound either.

When I heard the rattle beneath me, I honestly jumped and skipped over the last few rocks and didn't look back.

My description has plenty of warning and it suggests snake chaps, and boots to help protect you from a bite.

It adds to the search a level of danger, it's a rush to look for it.

[+Adrenalynn]

The head gives the snake away as a rattlesnake. He took that picture very close, thats pretty crazy.

I hid my first cache about a week ago, this is a serious hike through weeds waist high and up a mountain.

Well on way back down I was on top of a layer of rocks when I heard the distinct sound of a rattlesnake below me. It wasn't one of those bugs that make the fake rattle sound either.

When I heard the rattle beneath me, I honestly jumped and skipped over the last few rocks and didn't look back.

My description has plenty of warning and it suggests snake chaps, and boots to help protect you from a bite.

It adds to the search a level of danger, it's a rush to look for it.

 

Just an FYI - and I really hesitate to post this:

 

Many snakes "rattle". They deliberately shake their tail in the leaves or brush to simulate the rattling sound.

 

That said: Don't mess with the rattle.

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Conversely, not all rattlesnakes rattle. Always exersize caution with snakes.

[ATMouse]

And snakes don't always sound like the TV makes 'em sound. The first rattlesnake I ever heard was down in PA, near active oil and gas rigs. I thought it was a high pressure line that had ruptured, not a snake.

 

As to non-venomous snake rattling, we disturbed a medium sized blacksnake down in NC and we amused to hear it vibrate it's tail on the dry leaves, making a buzzing sound.

[+Zzyzx Road]

And snakes don't always sound like the TV makes 'em sound. The first rattlesnake I ever heard was down in PA, near active oil and gas rigs. I thought it was a high pressure line that had ruptured, not a snake.

 

As to non-venomous snake rattling, we disturbed a medium sized blacksnake down in NC and we amused to hear it vibrate it's tail on the dry leaves, making a buzzing sound.

Gophersnakes and other kinds we have around here do that dry-leaf thing.

That picture was definitely a real snake, and someone who is caching out in wilderness anywhere should be using that long-lost thing called "Common Sense".

We just came back from Pahrump Nevada, and some of the caches we found on our trip could definitely have had some nasties around them! Rocks, dry area and sand, lack of available water all add up to reptilian and scorpinian habitat. Only one cache had a warning about scorpions. We took care on ALL of them based on the entire area and it's environment. For all I knew we could have been attacked by a rabid mis-placed armadillo! Or maybe a alien-abducted turtle...(it is the Kingdom of Nye home of "Where things go Pahrump in the night".

In all seriousness though, some of the caches listed in my area (and certianly not many I look for!) are in an environment with cougars, bears, crazy cannibus-growers, stark-raving-mad cattle ranchers convinced you are up to no good...not to mention the tarantulas, black widows (hey! those are in town too!), brown recluse, scorpions and rattlesnakes...We just take note of the time of year, take a long stick and some good heavy gloves. If there is ANY possibility that there is a critter around, we walk a lot slower and pay a whole HELL of a lot more attention!

 

I too, would have taken out anything in my way of getting outta' there! Boulders, trees, other people...

[+hukilaulau]

The head gives the snake away as a rattlesnake. He took that picture very close, thats pretty crazy.

 

The picture was taken with a telephoto lens from about 8-10 feet. There were rocks between me and the snake and I scoped out a rapid egress route before I started taking pics! Again, if it had started moving there would have been no pics and a DNF!

Here's another snake I found just yesterday. Anyone know what this one is? Note the horn-like protrusions on its head. Freedom Fighters

[+Adrenalynn]

The head gives the snake away as a rattlesnake. He took that picture very close, thats pretty crazy.

 

The picture was taken with a telephoto lens from about 8-10 feet. There were rocks between me and the snake and I scoped out a rapid egress route before I started taking pics! Again, if it had started moving there would have been no pics and a DNF!

Here's another snake I found just yesterday. Anyone know what this one is? Note the horn-like protrusions on its head. Freedom Fighters

 

You always find the good ones!

 

That, boys and girls, is a classic Crotalus cerastes AKA - Arizona Sidewinder Rattlesnake.

 

Sorry, I can't get it to the subspecies/specific ID from that photo. Too much variation.

 

Incidentally, the "horns" fold down over the eyes to protect them as it moves through underground burrows, or when it's underground and taking down a small rabbit or something else with some fight. Pretty cool bit of evolution...

Edited April 16, 2006 by Adrenalynn

[+hukilaulau]

The head gives the snake away as a rattlesnake. He took that picture very close, thats pretty crazy.

 

The picture was taken with a telephoto lens from about 8-10 feet. There were rocks between me and the snake and I scoped out a rapid egress route before I started taking pics! Again, if it had started moving there would have been no pics and a DNF!

Here's another snake I found just yesterday. Anyone know what this one is? Note the horn-like protrusions on its head. Freedom Fighters

 

You always find the good ones!

 

That, boys and girls, is a classic Crotalus cerastes AKA - Arizona Sidewinder Rattlesnake.

 

Sorry, I can't get it to the subspecies/specific ID from that photo. Too much variation.

 

Incidentally, the "horns" fold down over the eyes to protect them as it moves through underground burrows, or when it's underground and taking down a jackrabbit or something else with some fight. Pretty cool bit of evolution...

Crikey, mate! Where's them glooves I put away?!?

[+Adrenalynn]

Crikey, mate! Where's them glooves I put away?!?

 

Just a note, and I'm sure you were joking, but for accuracy:

 

The fangs will penetrate even good leather gloves like warm butter. Remember - they're evolved to penetrate hide.

 

Snake gloves these days are generally pretty heavy layered kevlar spectra.

 

But he'd strike out anyway. Wrist to elbow is a more likely bite. As you noted in your entry, however, as soon as you disturbed him, he tried to get away instead of going after you. And the sidewinder tends to be the more aggressive of the rattlers.

 

Good shot, though!

 

Just as a rule of thumb: If the head is triangular shaped coming off the body and significantly wider than the neck, it's a sure bet it's a pit viper of some type or another.

[+Deliveryguy428]

hsss hssss hssssss usally means===RUN

[+Adrenalynn]

hsss hssss hssssss usally means===RUN

 

I'm looking closer at your pics. Also, the cache location and such. Do you have any higher resolution pictures? Incidentally, he's not all that small. About midrange for that snake. They run 17-34". From the size of his body, I'm going to guess that back up under the rock there's a fair bit more snake there. probably around 2' and change overall. His eyes look cloudy. He might be looking to shed here soon...

 

I can't see his rattle, which would help. But it appears he has 23 dorsal scale rows (that's why I asked about higher res).

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Crotalus cerastes laterorepens which would specifically be "The Colorado Desert Sidewinder".

 

There is a slim change that he's C.cerastes cercobombus - Sonoran Sidewinder. But if so, he'd be pretty west of his territory at that cache.

 

The rarest/hardest to find are the Mojave Desert Sidewinders (Crotalus cerastes cerastes). I've only ever seen one of those. They're further north and west - I found mine up around Lake Havasu City.

Edited April 16, 2006 by Adrenalynn

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

No offense hukilaulau, but I never want to go caching with you. You find too many dangerous snakes.

[+Adrenalynn]

No offense, TM and DV - I wanna go caching with him. He finds the coolest and nicest examples of pit vipers. Even his "accidental" photos are close to saleable. I'd be all over finding those 'nakes!

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Lol Adrenalynn. Enjoy then.

[+hukilaulau]

No offense hukilaulau, but I never want to go caching with you. You find too many dangerous snakes.

Guess you don't wanna do 70 miles of prime snake country with me then...

[+Adrenalynn]

If you do 70mi down the Bradshaw and see ONE viper - you have your eyes closed, your fingers in your ears, you're sleeping on a block of ice, AND you're not looking very hard...

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Im having an attack of the "vapors" just thinking about it lol.

[+hukilaulau]

No offense, TM and DV - I wanna go caching with him. He finds the coolest and nicest examples of pit vipers. Even his "accidental" photos are close to saleable. I'd be all over finding those 'nakes!

Hey! Enterprise says they rent Jeeps in Blythe! Between Bradshaw and Box Canyon, there must be about 40 snakes... er, caches that could be collected on one run. Is that a dream weekend or what?!?

[+One of the Texas Vikings]

Whew !!!!

 

Im glad we dont have those in Houston ! The main reason, is the gators eat them

[bandgeek]

Dang, what is wrong with LEAVING IT ALONE?

 

Don't poke it, prod it, throw rocks at it...WALK AWAY! It lives there. YOU go away.

 

(People are weird, I swear...)

 

I work at a summer camp, and every week Adrian the Reptile Guy comes and does a show on snakes, turtles, lizards etc. I didn't used to take his advice seriously, however after an incident with a snapping turtle on the highway (he taught us how to safely move them across a road) I trust his advice completely.

 

Adrian says:

What do you do when you see a snake in the woods?

LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!