This is one of the most common rattlesnakes in the western U.S., if not the most common, yet I had somehow managed to avoid seeing one until now. They look pretty similar to Mohave Rattlesnakes from a distance, which is where you should generally be when viewing rattlesnakes. One giveaway here is the more or less even widths of the black and white bands on the tail, a feature that has earned this species the nickname of "coontail rattler".

I was following an annoyingly slow but uncooperative whiptail around our campsite, when it meandered around a bush. I followed it around that bush, not for the first time that day, when I noticed this fine fellow stretched out lazily, blocking my way. Since I had my camera with me for (temporarily interrupted) whiptail-photographing, I settled in and took a few photos of my newfound much-more-cooperative friend. Then I went back to tell my wife Monica and sister Mary, who were on the other side of the bush, perhaps twenty feet away. I got my rarely-used snake hook out with the thought of relocating our scaly friend a little further from the campsite. My sister and I walked back around the bush, but the snake was nowhere to be seen. Less than two minutes earlier, it looked like it was camped out for the evening, but now ... hmm.

This very large rattler was in the same basic lazy basking position as the smaller one I had seen at our campsite the previous day. This one was in the middle of the road though. After getting these photos, I managed to convince it to leave the road using the extended legs of my tripod, while an impatient truck waited to pass.