Rattlesnake

Rattlesnake

Panamint Speckled Rattlesnake in Red Rock Canyon, Southern Nevada 2006 Rattlesnakes bite about 1,000 people a year in the United States. Still, the risk of being killed by one is 20 times less than the risk of being struck by lightning.
Anya Jingle
on Jan 13, 2007 10:57 am
Image ID: 260077

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justahiker

justahiker - Jan 27, 2007 4:37 pm - Voted 10/10

Great photo!!

Very nice close up.!
It is not same to close up butterfly and rattlesnake!

I like it very much!

Anya Jingle

Anya Jingle - Jan 27, 2007 6:39 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Great photo!!

Thank you. They are quite hard to come by. I have been hiking for the last 6 years frequently and only saw 5 rattlesnakes total.

EL

EL - Mar 19, 2007 2:57 pm - Voted 10/10

familiar

I love snakes and this one looks very familiar to me . I think its cousin is living in Iran!

Anya Jingle

Anya Jingle - Mar 19, 2007 8:27 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: familiar

Well, I cannot say I love rattlesnakes, but I respect them. They are not aggresive snakes, but their venom is highly toxic and they will bite if one gets too close.

Dan Dalton

Dan Dalton - Apr 2, 2007 2:13 pm - Voted 10/10

Awesome shot!!!

What camera are you using and how close are you!? I would be a little worried to approach a rattler in this coil-up position! Well composed,

Dan

Anya Jingle

Anya Jingle - Apr 2, 2007 3:55 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Awesome shot!!!

Thank you Dan. I use digital cameras with 10x optical zoom capacity.
I was within 3 feet of this snake and was a bit worried also. That is why I used the zoom for this shot (so I can ramain at safe distance) rather than the macro setting (which I normally prefer to use for small animals otherwise).

lisae

lisae - Aug 2, 2007 11:24 pm - Voted 10/10

Camera?

Anaya, can you be more specific. I just got a Cannon TX1, which has a 10x optical zoom. I am looking forward to seeing what sort of pictures I can get with it.

In your caption, you state the odds of dying from a rattle snake bite is less than getting struck by lightening. I have to figure out the odds of this: I know a couple- the woman got bite by a rattlesnake; the man got hit by lighting.

Anya Jingle

Anya Jingle - Aug 3, 2007 3:11 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Camera?

Lisa, I use Olympus SP 500UZ currently, but some photos in my gallery were shot with my older cameras.
Enjoy your new Canon. They are great cameras too.

I was also intrigued by that statement about the odds of getting bitten by a rattlesnake versus lightning strike. It makes sense though because we have control over rattlesnakes. We can avoid them if we are perceptive and careful. When it comes to lightning if we end up in the middle of a storm, the rest is pretty much out of our hands.

lisae

lisae - Aug 3, 2007 3:05 pm - Voted 10/10

Odds?

I meant the odds of both events, ie lighting strike & rattlesnake bite happening to two related people, not the odds of getting bite versus a being struck by lightening.

I agree you can avoid getting bit by a snake, but you can also avoid being in a high spot during a storm. I talked to P at some lenght about his experience. He said the only thing he could have done to avoid getting struck by lightening would have been to bail earlier.

Anya Jingle

Anya Jingle - Aug 3, 2007 3:24 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Odds?

I agree, you can try to avoid being in high spots during the storm. On the other hand though, you can get struck by lightning anywhere not just in the high spot. It is very random. I think Florida has the largest number of lightning strikes in the US even though their highest point is not more than a few hundered feet high.

rpc

rpc - Oct 10, 2007 12:04 pm - Voted 10/10

been lucky enough

to not have encountered one of these in Red Rocks...yet. Hoping to keep it that way :) Great shot (if spooky)!

Anya Jingle

Anya Jingle - Oct 10, 2007 2:50 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: been lucky enough

Thanks. This one was pretty loud. What bothers me the most about them is that some have such a faint rattle that it is hard to hear and often one doesn't notice them until they move or "talk".

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