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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Two Rattlers in Two Days

Just down from the mountain
Not too far into our hike this morning we encountered another small rattler,  Although it never stirred it certainly engendered a sense of paranoia in me, and I spent the rest of the trek looking out for snakes.  Much to Becca's chagrin I made her hike behind me for the entire way--and we did an extra long excursion around the west side of the mountain.  I'm wondering now if snakes will be especially prolific this season.
The way we came

Another close encounter with a rattler

Back behind the mountain's west side

Claret Cups on the up-slope

Happy in the outback

Two shadowy figures

Torrey Yucca with more blooming to come

Closing back in on the Tortoise

Claret Cup and the mountain

Ocotillo blossom

Feather Dalea

Feather Dalea

3 comments:

Dr. K said...

Oh no--I hope we don't have a bad snake season ahead of us.

Scott said...

Packrat: How can we be sure you're not using a super-zoom lens, and that rattler wasn't a half-mile away? :) This second sighting in two days would give me some qualms about bushwhacking.

packrat said...

Something else that worries me, Scott, is the apparent abundance of rodents this spring. That can only mean an increase in the number of snakes who prey on them.

I doubt I'd be able to spot these rattlers from a half mile; in fact, you don't see them until you practically step on them. That's why Dr. K and I decided we'd have Becca get the rattlesnake vaccination for the first time. She needs a booster shot in four weeks, then she's good for a year.

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