Fat Rattler

The Acacia tree in our backyard is in full bloom

If you hike in the desert every day you're sure to see a fair number of rattlesnakes.  Becca and I have seen five or six already this hot season.  She spotted the Western Diamondback pictured below in time to make an appropriate avoidance response.  I was able to take photos without getting too close.  It was non-aggressive, though, having just eaten a morning meal (I think).  When I was done capturing images, Becca and I had to go off trail in order to give the snake a wide berth because it was right at the edge of the hiking path.

If you're familiar with Acacia you know how sweet the yellow balls smell

An out-of-focus bean from one of our Desert Willows

Sotol are flowering all over the northern Chihuahuan Desert

A yardstick worth of Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

A viperous-looking face

Distinct black-and-white bands near the rattle mean this is a young snake

It looks as if this snake had a morning meal:  Rat McNugget?

View to the south from Tortugas (Tortoise) Mountain

Hot dog in the outback

Getting hotter

No water in sight