Rattler by photosynthesis

Photography • Animals • posted on Jan 21, 2012

Open full image in new tab Zoom on image

Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.

Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.

Description

This rattlesnake appeared on the steps leading to our deck a few years ago. He slithered around for a little while & then eventually departed. I took several pictures (making very sure to keep my distance & not threaten him) of which this was the best. I've seen several other rattlers here, including a few very young ones (who are the most dangerous, since they haven't learned to control the release of their venom), though none in the last couple of years. My good friend & neighbor Dan across the road was bitten on the toe by one last year & had to be helicoptered into a hospital. He spent 3 days in the hospital where he was treated with anti-venom. He was lucky & made a complete recovery (he was very physically fit, which I'm sure helped) but all of us around here are even more cautious than we used to be around these dangerous critters & give them a wide berth...

Comments (16)

)

roguetographer

12:53PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

Excellent photo of a beautiful viper. Rattlers are so beautiful and so dangerous. Your neighbor Dan probably doesn't go outside too often anymore wearing flip-flops.

)

njb2000

12:55PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

Hope you had a nice telephoto lens to get this great close up!

)

ArtistKimberly

1:07PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

Wonderful work,

)

JohnDelaquiox

1:21PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

great capture

p825979

1:33PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

Nice shot of the little guy.

MrsLubner

3:39PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

Once upon a time, we kept several rattlesnakes in a tank in our living room. A mother and 3 of her young. After a few weeks, we released the mother back into the wild and 2 of the young, however, my husband kept one...the most aggressive of them. The day before the 4th of July, he decided to try and pick it up ... after a few beers ... and was bitten. A full charge of venom into his finger. After walking around the neighborhood to show off is wound, I drove him to the ER. Hospitalized for 3 days after we discovered he was allergic to the anti-venom. Treated for 2 toxic reactions and nearly losing his finger after it turned black and bubbled up, he came home. The finger healed but it was nothing more than a long bone with scarred flesh covering it. We are now divorced... Love this shot. Very typical of rattlers looking for a place to sun near a food source.

MarkR151

3:59PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

I would think about moving.

)

auntietk

4:00PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

I can't imagine living with deadly critters so close by. There's nothing in this area that can sneak up and kill you. It's a beautiful snake, though. I love snakes in general, but have no desire to get close to the dangerous ones!

)

photosynthesis

4:33PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

auntietk: Do you live anywhere near human beings? There are between 15,000 - 20,000 murders in the US. each year. By contrast, it's rare that more than 10 people will die of snake bites in any given year. Watch out for those two-legged deadly critters, they're far more dangerous. Not to make light of rattlesnakes or to be cynical about humans, just a matter of proportion & perspective...

)

npauling

6:24PM | Sat, 21 January 2012

An excellent capture of this snake but I'm glad we don't have them in NZ and you are right there are more dangerous two legged snakes than the real ones.

)