Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

I visit the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge frequently; I’m somewhere on the WMWR most weekends throughout the year.  When I go, my Sawyer Snake Bite Kit is never far away and the photo above is the reason why.  Yesterday, I went to the WMWR late in the evening looking for two good places to make to totally different images.  One was going to be of the  sunset happening at 8:50 PM, and 293° WNW.  The other was going to be of the moonrise at 9:14 PM and 114° ESE.  My first thought was to check out Crater Lake for the moonrise so I entered the Refuge from Hwy. 115, north of Cache.  I parked in the parking lot and took a trail north up the west side of the lake.  There was a fisherman fishing off the dam and a family of geese swimming close to the western shore.  Every 100 feet, or so, I’d stop and use my compass to see just where the moon would rise in relation to the lake.  I had gone almost to the northern end of the lake before deciding I wasn’t going to get the picture I had in my mind.  It was only then I noticed the high number of dragonflies darting about around me.  It was still almost an hour before sunset so I took advantage of this opportunity and spent a few minutes stalking dragonflies.  I was really appreciating the fact I had my Sony 70-200mm, f2.8 zoom mounted on my A700, because of the working distance it allowed.  I was able to get a few shots and then decided I needed to get back to my Toyota truck and set about locating a spot for a sunset image.  Because I had wandered a bit stalking dragonflies, my first move was to locate and get back on the trail leading to the parking lot.  I quickly located the trail and was on my way back.  I was trying to keep distractions to a minimum so I could get back as quickly as possible.  This is difficult to do because photo opportunities are so plentiful on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  Anyway, I trekking down the trail, eyes straight ahead, thoughts focused on where I’m going next when I hear a faint noise that catches my attention.  I stop, listen, and at first think it’s an insect.  I cock my head in the direction of the sound, twisting to the right, bending down all at the same time.  As my face turns toward the ground I see the noisemaker and my heart skips a beat!  There I am staring right down at the Western Diamondback Rattle Snake pictured above!  And there it was looking right back at me!  I had already passed it by about a foot, so I quickly, very very quickly, skipped on down the trail out of reach of any impending strike.

Now, standing a safe distance away and both eyes and ears tuned in as rattlesnake detectors, I scan the surrounding ground making sure there aren’t any other Diamondbacks lurking about.  It took less than a minute to regain my composure and then my photographer’s need to “capture the moment” kicked in.  A plan was devised to circle back around to the west so the sun would be at my back and shining on the snake.  This plan took me off the trail, but I couldn’t go back up the trail anyway because that would have returned me into its striking range.  I circled around until I was casting a shadow across the snake and then I moved just enough to allow the light to fully expose its position.  I estimated the Western Diamondback to be about 20—26 inches long, so I maintained a distance of a good 6—7 feet.   Again, I was so glad I was using the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.  Because the grass in which it was lying was so tall, the sun could not shine directly upon it so I found the best results would result from using my pop-up flash.  I was concerned the length of the lens would block some of the flash so I removed the lens hood, first.  Even then, I was surprised the lens did not create a shadow in the picture.  I was able to see the buttons on the snake’s tail and counted four.  I didn’t want to disturb the snake or cause it any stress so I did nothing more than take pictures.  After making several images, I knew I needed to return to the reason I came in the first place so I found the trail and hurried on to the parking lot.  But I tell you thing, for sure, my rattlesnake detection system was locked “on” for the rest of this trip!