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Ran into this little guy this morning. He lived but there have been a few out this year.

Nasty biter right there.....

Yeah buddy! Glad I sawit before it saw me!

I haven't seen a live rattlesnake yet this year and only one stuck to the road. Usually I'll see a couple in the spring and a couple more in early fall. I think they are all quarantining themselves

I thought this was going to be about the guy who used to run the paper in NE MT..........

Sheridan is alive and well.

Good to hear.

We don’t have that brand around here, what is it, a pygmy?

Prairie Rattlesnake

I don’t live where they are common anymore. When I did, there were no survivors if I saw them.
Know two people that were bitten. Both had some serious medical issues.

I generally kill them, this one was lucky. Ill be hiking soon and get some rattles agsin.

Looks like he wasn't too alarmed at seeing the big 2 legged monster stomping down the road. Tail relaxed, head resting and not even bothering enough to face you. Very trusting of your good nature I can only guess.

Good looking rattler. I'm surprised that it didn't remain the symbol of some southern states .

One day I was talking to a ranger assistant where I once worked. Told me that they close the public Access, pavilions, trails and store when one is sighted. I asked, so nobody gets bit?
He said, No. It's so guys don't kill them.
The males travel long distances that time of year and we see them, but no accidental bites. Their good for the ecosystem.
All the time spent hiking, biking, bouldering, climbing, camping, caving, and working there, I had never seen one rattler other than hit by a car!
I even led hunts, catch and release, for the fun of it. No luck.

As soon as he left, I kid you not, I headed down the parking lot to the road and what did I see?
The most beautiful female Timber ever photographed!
I gently picked her up with a little stick, held her with one hand while getting close ups with the 35mm slr.
She wasn't cold, just relaxed and not the least bit frightened. Most are black phase..She was a very colorful red phase. A rare variety in WV. Pretty girl. Wish I could find those pictures for you.

They use them to pave Highway 87 on the Rosebud Reservation in SD. You'd see some skid marks, and there'd be a dead snake all squished up at the end. I can't blame them, life is hard enough there without a snake bite. I talked to more than a couple people who'd been bitten, not fans of those reptiles.

Nice Happy Camper,

This one wasn't to interested in me. Just relaxing in the shade. It had a speck of blood on its neck area but did not appear injured. I know an area where its common to find them and hike it a few times a year. Some get pretty big. I like bull snakes and also come across them frequently. Had a 6 plus foot, bull a month ago cross the road in front of me. It seems snakes come in yearly cycles. Some years dont see any, this year seeing plenty and they were out early for the year.

Those are nice looking snakes. I never raised one, but like their markings and color.

If you have any concerns with Rattlers near your home, like living in the country, get hold of a Rat snake. They're different colors depending where you live. In the north east, they're blacken as they age. Each she'd they'll lose some distinctiveness of the markings, which are similar to bulls. I had one for many years that kept field mice from my house. They eat poisonous snakes too and keep their numbers way down. They take care of business will no ill effects. Like bull snakes, they sometimes sun themselves on roads.

That looks very similar to our Western rattler that we have here. The Prairie is one of several subspecies of the Western. Where was this taken?

I haven't seen any rattlers this year but yesterday I had an encounter with a belligerent bull snake. I was on a conditioning hike with my llamas when he crossed our trail. He decided to coil and play rough. I poked him with my trekking pole and he struck at it a couple times. Then he want around me and under the belly of my lead llama - who pretty much ignored him. He went between the back legs. He was very lucky that he didn't get stomped.