The mating Rattlesnakes in the attached pics were photographed by Jim Winch on his ranch just east of Laredo , Texas in March of 2007.
Actually, those are 2 big males competing for a nearby female. I surely hope they weren't killed, as D-backs that size are usually close to 10 yrs old I've only seen that once in person. it is SO COOL! -Brian
Jason, I was thinking the same thing. That's some nice white meat for the grill. A good knife man can get two boneless fillets. I like it broiled in butter and garlic. I ain't tried grilled. Yet. If it tastes like chicken, you are over cooking it....
lite-liner is right. If they are mating we have some homosexual atrox(western diamondbacks) in the population. Blake and I have been getting some nice rattlers lately, including two rattleless rattlers. One was a S. tergeminus (western massasauga) and the other an C. atrox. Here is the thread to the report from Friday on the herpetology forum I use. You can see the missing rattle on the atrox. I will see if I can find the photo of the rattleless tergeminus. FieldHerpForum.com :: View topic - Young County Texas (updated with pics)
Love the pics, pope. that last couple of shots; is that a bull snake? Lokks like it was about ready to shed, based on the eyes. Had no idea massasauga was here in Tx. thought they were a coastal marsh-type snake. -Brian
The last few shots were of a speckled kingsnake. The referrence to the bullsnake the guy made in the thread was due to a guy who was at wal-mart in West Texas. He posted that a few weeks ago he was walking through the parking lot when someone screamed. He went to see what was going on and a guy was about to kill a bullsnake that he was calling a bullrattler (diamondback/bullsnake hybrid). This is because it was rattling its tail. Almost all North American colubrids rattle their tails just like North American pit-vipers. Anyway, it is impossible for a bullsnake to hybridize with a rattlesnake and the guy saved the "deadly bullrattler." We do have western massasaugas west of the immediate DFW area and northwest to past Wichita Falls. There are not many, but I know of some isolated populations. The coast and parts of South Texas have desert massasaugas. They are affiliated with wetter areas than diamondbacks, but I find them together. It is not that the diamondbacks don't care for the wetter areas, but the massasaugas don't range far from some source of water. If you like snakes, you are welcome to go herping with me. It is always nice to have someone split gas and have around, especially when dealing with venomous species. I have never been bitten, knock on wood. I go all the time when not fishing.
Now that sounds like fun! I, unfortunately, Have been bitten by a large copperhead. stupid move, pay the consequences. The pain was incredible. Still like snakes, though. saw a cool one out @ my shop the other day. Yellow-bellied racer? grey on top, bright yellow on bottom, about 3' long. picked him right up. very docile for a racer, never even tried to bite me wish I had got a picture. Pm me the next time you're thinkin about goin, maybe I can make it! -Brian
MrBill: That's probably the first picture I have seen of Bill and Hillary showing affection publicly.
