Up until today, I hadn't seen a rattlesnake in... oh... over 20 years, even though I hike in prime rattlesnake territory on an almost weekly basis.
Well, today, as I stepped off trail to watch a mini-landslide caused by a deer, I almost stepped right on this beautiful 20-inch guy.
He was calm about it - never even rattling. We got a bunch of photos, and then I attempted to catch him. Despite all those Jeff Corwin episodes I've watched, this guy was just too fast.
Judging by my Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians (a must have for any amateur naturalist), it's a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, a subspecies of the "excitable and aggressive" Western Rattlesnake.
Enjoy!
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