Rattle Snakes and Photos - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

08/21/2008 02:07:30 AM · #1

I just got back from trying to get a shot for 'The Road Less Traveled' and came back empty handed except for one nice shot but it doesn�t meet the challenge.
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During my travels I just missed stepping on a Rattle Snake by less than two feet, he was stretched out across the footpath and I didn�t see him until just before I would have stepped on him. He immediately coiled up and started to rattle. I took one cautious step backward and watched him back into some bushes. I had my camera in Aperture Priority and set to f/16 so all I got was this lousy shot. I was 20 miles back in on a dirt road so any help would have been a long way off. I was just glad I didn�t get bitten and I�m going to watch much closer where I put my feet from now on.

Looking at the picture I can see that I must have been a bit 'rattled' myself, even the VR on the lens did help.

The thing we go through for this addiction�

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

08/21/2008 05:59:40 AM · #2

that looks like a big one. you eally shoudl be careful right now, breedign season has finished and the babies are all out. evening and dawn are teh best times to go herping, that being said, it is also the time that you will probaby get bitten if you piss them off. the tarantulars are out right now too, as well as the sonoran desert toads, so watch where you put your hands as well!!

edited to add, gorgeous photo of the sunset

Message edited by author 2008-08-21 05:59:59.

CorySmith

08/21/2008 07:12:48 AM · #3

ya rattle snakes are wicked creatures, glad you missed stepping on it. great shot of the mountains by the way, looks like it was worth the hike

sabphoto

Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+

08/21/2008 07:30:57 AM · #4

reminds me of earlier this year I was out on a path I like to go on, barely into it I saw some lizards "playing" on a tree. I knelt down and tried like crazy to get a good shot of them but for some reason I was especially shakey that day, so I decided I would just go back to the car and get my tripod. I got back to the tree and started looking for the lizards, but no luck so I started out again. I didn't get more than two steps in before I heard the leaves russeling and as I looked down a large black snake raced across the path in front of me and kept going through the brush on the other side. I could hear him going for quite a little while, which is surprising since my heart was pounding like a race horse at full speed! Still frozen in my tracks, I called my brother-in-law and asked him, "if you're walking along and a snake comes racing out in front of you, does it make you any less of a man if you cry?". He confirmed that I would still be a man cause he'd do it too lol.

Trinch

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

08/21/2008 07:42:46 AM · #5

Here's a guy I came face to face (or lens to face) with in Maryland. It's not venomous yet I was still a bit anxious getting in there for the photo. I can only imagine what I would be feeling if it was a rattler...

LiamD2005

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

08/21/2008 10:46:37 AM · #6

Originally posted by rcrawford:

You put your belt onthe ground and shook your camera. That not really a snake is it? ;p

alanfreed

Nikon D6

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

08/21/2008 10:53:46 AM · #7

Since we're on the subject... I was hiking in Zion National Park in Utah last month, and I came upon this guy:

I'm assuming it's a rattlesnake, but I don't know for sure. I'm not great at identifying snakes... so I just snapped a picture (with my 10-20mm lens -- I wasn't about to take the time to switch lenses to something more appropriate) and slithered the heck outta there.

karmat

Apple iPhone 7

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

08/21/2008 10:56:30 AM · #8

Originally posted by alanfreed:

Since we're on the subject... I was hiking in Zion National Park in Utah last month, and I came upon this guy:

I'm assuming it's a rattlesnake, but I don't know for sure. I'm not great at identifying snakes... so I just snapped a picture (with my 10-20mm lens -- I wasn't about to take the time to switch lenses to something more appropriate) and slithered the heck outta there.

ummm, that little rattly thing on the end opposite the tongue gives a pretty good clue what this is.

10-22. A lot closer than i would want ot be

alanfreed

Nikon D6

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

08/21/2008 11:04:53 AM · #9

Originally posted by karmat:

ummm, that little rattly thing on the end opposite the tongue gives a pretty good clue what this is.

10-22. A lot closer than i would want ot be

Well, that's what I thought. I'm just glad my daughter wasn't on that hike with me; she probably would have wanted to pet it.

dacrazyrn

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

08/21/2008 11:22:04 AM · #10

probably a Pygmy rattler

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

08/21/2008 11:26:22 AM · #11

No it is a Western Rattle snake , the great basin subspecies. (probably)

and Rcraw, yours in a western diamond back

pygmy rattlers are mostly found in Florida

Message edited by author 2008-08-21 11:27:27.

Telehubbie

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

08/21/2008 11:30:23 AM · #12

Originally posted by JulietNN:

No it is a Western Rattle snake , the great basin subspecies. (probably)

You beat me to it. Here's a video showing it.

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

08/21/2008 11:36:42 AM · #13

Originally posted by Trinch:

hey Trinch, that is a black rat snake, not a black racer. Black racers have mostly all black on the underside

dacrazyrn

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

08/21/2008 11:47:14 AM · #14

Originally posted by dacrazyrn:

probably a Pygmy rattler

guess I was thinking of the Midget rattler, but anyway. Don't care after a few beers after work. If it is a snake, it rattles, just always catch it BEHIND the head. Plus they are tasty on a nice campfire.

rcrawford

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

08/21/2008 12:45:56 PM · #15

I was just looking at the photos my wife

BNC took and she actually caught the snake in the path. This is a 100% crop from the photo. Neither of us noticed it until I almost stepped on it.

This all reminded me of a trip to Roosevelt Lake back in 2005. We had a wet winter and the lake level was rising fast stranding animals as the small islands disappeared. I guess this guy decided to make a swim for it. He was over a mile from the nearest land. Sure glad I was in the boat and hadn�t just fallen down from water-skiing.

LadyK

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

08/21/2008 01:08:14 PM · #16

i perfere to stay behind glass when photographing these little beasties

FireBird

08/21/2008 01:18:52 PM · #17

Would this one be a black racer, or just plain ol black snake?

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

08/21/2008 01:49:10 PM · #18

was the underbelly a sort of cream tan colour???

the black snake can be refered or rather be subspecies include the Black Swamp Snake9 but this has a orange belly), Black Rat Snake, Ring-necked Snake (but that has a ring aroundits neck and a yellow underbelly) Eastern Mud Snake ( has a diamond pattern on belly), Black Pine Snake, Eastern Indigo Snake and the Southern Black Racer. The latter two -- Eastern Indigo (discolouration on chin) and Black Racer (can be grey the babies sort of look like long arse rattle snakes--are the species most often referred to as "black snakes".

all of these are mostly found in the south east, like florida and marshy, swampy lands

when i saw trinchs i first thought it was a blue indigo, but i am pretty darn sure that is a rat snake