Southern Pacific Rattlesnake In the Field

[GQ.]

My daughter spotted her first snake by herself this weekend! I was walking down the trail when she said, "Dad! A rattlesnake!" I looked over to where she was pointing and sure enough, there it lay. It was a fat little Southern Pacific Rattlesnake. She was so excited she was shaking! She also wanted to call her mom and everyone else on the spot.

"I can't believe I found my first snake ever dad!" she kept saying over and over while I turned on the digital camera. And dang it, the little guy slipped into the brush before I could snap a photo in situ. I was really bummed about that. I didn't even get to take one lousy photo of the momentous occasion.

Well, we returned to the same spot today to take some pictures and look around some more. As luck would have it, we found another neonate not even 50 meters from her original find! I don't know if this is the same snake or not, but it looked to be just as pudgy, had the same rattle length and the same body length. The below photo may or may not be of the same snake, but I'd like to think it is!

This was by far the most exciting snake find I've ever had the pleasure to be on. Not simply because we found a snake, but because of my daughter's reaction to the find. I was overjoyed to see her enthusiasm. It once again made me so proud to be a dad. Enjoy!

 

[Haplopelmatic]

That's awesome! Children have a truly natural fascination with animals. It's cool to see parents take active part in this. I think that's one of the moste effective ways of biological preservation. To make people interested in and care for herps and the environment as a whole from childhood. You have plenty reason to be proud.

I can't wait to breed my own human-pinkies!

/Cheers!

 

[WYSIWYG]

I'm just happy to hear ya'll got close enough to get a good pix and enjoy the viewing of it without being injured by it. I've watched a show on Animal Planet, where snakebite victims come in with severe, life-threatening injuries. Many of them are victims of the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake.

Lovely pix.

Warmest Regards,

Wysi

 

[Crotalus]

Congratulation to your daughter!
And I wouldnt be surprised if it was indeed the same juvenile as you found earlier.

/Lelle

 

[Malkavian]

Man I wish my first sighting had been something that impressive.

 

[GQ.]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone!