Sunday, September 25, 2011

Diamondback!

I had not been home long from school one afternoon recently when B came to the backdoor and said, "Get your camera!"

That it was a snake, was not a surprise. That it was a young diamondback, was a big surprise. It is the first rattlesnake we have found on our property.


It was so young that is had no rattles nor even a button, just a black spot on the tip of its tail. It was only about 16 inches long. 


It was just beside the entrance to the garage when B spotted it.

Hose, hook and hiss: all have similar form here.


The following day, we came upon its sibling, dead in the road at the end of our block. Same length. Same black spot with no rattles. Hmmmm. Sssssssounds like a hatch.

4 comments:

R.Powers said...

Beautiful.
I don't think I've ever seen one that young.

BBB said...

What did you do with it?

S N B said...

We are not in the habit of killing things; but because this was a venomous snake on our driveway, it was killed swiftly with one whack on the head with the iron hook in the picture. Had it been in the wild, we would have admired, photographed and moved on.

BBB said...

I would have done the same thing. I hope that you don't have any more run ins with any of its siblings.