I’ve been lucky to see a variety of rattlesnakes over the years. I’ve seen eastern diamond backs, pygmy rattlers and massasagua rattlesnakes. I spent a lot of time in NY/NJ looking for timber rattlers with out much luck. I knew I was close at times, having found them dead along the road while riding my bike, but finding a living one evaded me.
This October, on my son’s birthday we came across two beautiful young timber rattlers while on a hike in central Tennessee. What a treat! I was used to seeing the really dark northern ones. These young southern snakes were very colorful, with the brick-red “canebrake” pattern along their backs, yellow overtones complimenting their dark chevrons.
They were very well camouflaged. I only saw one at first although the two were only about 18 inches apart. After checking the area more carefully, so I didn’t find any others the hard way, I spent a good twenty minutes photographing them. What a great day.
Liesl
‘Tis an unfortunate-sounding Latin name for such a pretty creature. I hope you paint this one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_horridus