Originally Posted by Mathsr

Usually there isn't any doubt what about happens to rattlesnakes around here, but I'm not sure what happened to this little guy. I think I stepped on him crossing a gravel parking lot. This was near Raton, New Mexico several years ago. I walked back to my truck in a path I had just taken a few minutes before and there he was all dead and limp. There had been no car or truck traffic in a while. I don't have any idea what kind of rattlesnake it is. Maybe some of you guys that live out in those parts can identify him.

[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]

That little SOB looks like the one I saw on the road the other night. I hopped out to take a look at him and as soon as I was close enough to see he was a rattler, probably 6’ away, he struck at me and hightailed it into the Johnson grass. I never even had a chance to shoot his head off.

I did shoot a little diamondback last Sunday evening out at the ranch. He wasn’t acting mean but was too close to the cabin where we picnic every Sunday. My grandparents are hard of hearing and my 4 year old son is always playing around there, no place for venomous snakes.