Field Herper.com

Field notes and photography by Bryan D. Hughes

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    Jan
    3rd
    2011

    Orange Creamcicle Speck

    Here’s a pretty, colorful Southwestern speckled rattlesnake, Crotalus mitchelli pyrrhus, from the mountains North of Wickenberg. Beautiful, but typical for this area.

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    This entry was posted on Monday, January 3rd, 2011 at 10:06 am and is filed under Field Herping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    3 Responses to “Orange Creamcicle Speck”

    1. Ted C. MacRae says:
      January 3, 2011 at 11:29 pm

      Okay, I’ve been wondering – exactly what distance are these shots taken from? I presume you are using a telephoto lens?

      I’ve had only a handful of rattlesnake encounters – most were quite tame, but I was scared to get within 12 feet of that prairie rattlesnake!

    2. Bryan says:
      January 4, 2011 at 8:12 pm

      Well, a lot closer than you probably think. I mostly use a 28-135 for the typical “there’s a snake in front of me” shots, and will use a 70-300 if I see one that I can photograph without disturbing. The one in this post was taken from about 2′ away, though I was not in danger (not recommended for everyone though, of course). As I’m sure you understand, it’s all about knowing the animals, their limits, and your own.

      For reference, here’s a picture my sister took of me with a blacktailed rattlesnake: http://imgur.com/9twQs Obviously that distance increases with an aggressive snake.

    3. Ted C. MacRae says:
      January 7, 2011 at 11:42 am

      Okay – that’s a good reference photo. I’m not sure I’d get that close, but with a 100mm lens I have some room to work with.

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