So, rattlesnakes are pretty commonplace here in Arizona... we see a fair number of them each year. Rattlesnakes, Coral snakes, Gopher snakes... Today's encounter was kind of cute.
It is a cool morning for AZ, in the upper 60's, low 70's when we started walking. As we walked the trail my wife spotted a snake laying flat on the trail, unmoving... kind of looked dead. In fact we got within 6 feet of it and stopped, and realized its head was actually lifted off the surface. It was just sunning itself (the sun is ALWAYS hot in Arizona).
We started talking to it, and it realized we were there, tongue started flicking. We asked it if it wouldn't mind moving and sure enough, it sloooooooowly started slithering off the trail for us. (Well, we like to think of it that way; rattlesnakes are actually pretty shy). We thanked it and continued past it once it was off the trail.
I expected to see more on our walk but we didn't.
One of the reasons I like Arizona so much is because of how tough all the native animals are. We have carnivorous mice, crazy birds (watch a cactus wren some day), poisonous toads, venomous snakes, scorpions, giant centipedes, dangerous spiders, tarantulas... such an amazing place to live and observe wildlife!
That's all! Have a nice day!
OH! And baby creosote bushes are popping up everywhere. :)
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