The herping has been on pause these last few weeks. In late May, Kris and I had quite a trip down to the South East part of the state and really didn’t see much of anything. The air is extremely dry at this time of year, leaving a lot of reptiles in their holes until things become a little more favorable with the rains in late July or so. With gas so expensive, I’d rather just wait it out and then go crazy for a few weeks when I’m likely to see things.

Here’s a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake rescued awhile back from a home in Cave Creek. Nothing spectacular about this guy except how old it seemed. The tail was very long, and had broken off long ago, and was STILL one of the longest rattles I’d seen. He had a great temperment, and never struck or really rattled to speak of.

Crotalus atrox

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Crotalus atrox

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It was the usual Diamondback. By the time I got up there, it had crawled into the neighbors’ yard and fallen asleep. It really wasn’t happy to be woken up! It was probably one of the most aggressive atrox I have ever encountered.

After being released he crawled to the base of a bush and calmed down pretty quickly for a picture.

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I got a snake call on the 16th from the AHA and went to pick up a very aggressive diamondback. A big storm blew in just as I was leaving the house and I decided it would be better to return the next day for the release. I found a nice area about a half mile away with lots of cover. It was cloudy and the temperature was 88 degrees. I’m surprised I didn’t see something else on-route to the release spot.

Click the pictures to make them big.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Online Videos by Veoh.com

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Not quite a field find. Removed him from a bush in front of a home in N. Scottsdale, Arizona on my lunch break 07-02-07.

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