A Stricken Striker

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Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
11,835
Location
Webster, MD.
Didn't know there were as many different Pacific rattlers till I went here: http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.o.helleri.html There are a gazillion different looking ones.
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
2,271
Location
Orange County, CA
Rick, the one that has the reputation for aggression is the Mojave or "Green" Rattlesnake, yet another subspecies of the "Timber Rattler" clan, which may be the one you've encountered, especially if it was in Eastern CA. They are supposed to be in Riverside County and eastward.

The ones we deal with almost every day are actually pretty hard to get to coil and ready to strike. Mostly they just slide away into the nearest ground squirrel hole or dense bush. If you step within a couple of feet of them, they will rattle, but you have to get pretty close. Most of these I encounter when working at Bolsa Chica State Preserve, which is right on the beach, or only a couple of hundred yards away. We try to keep the public on the trails to avoid stepping on them, but I think you would actually have to step on them or touch them to get bitten.

I have found them about 20 miles east of there in the Santa Ana Mts. where I also volunteer and they seem about the same--pretty docile. The most aggressive snake we have up there is non-poisonous, the Red Coachwhip (a kind of Racer). They avoid people pretty well, most have never seen one. But if they feel cornered, they are really nasty, and bigger than any rattler I've seen here.

Great pics, guys!
 
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