Timber Rattlesnake Enjoying The Morning Sun
I rarely see Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) since I tend to focus on wetland habitats and not the dry rocky outcrops where they live. Rattlesnakes are not all that uncommon in the Catoctin Mountains and those that study them can find them without too much trouble. Bob Cammarata was kind enough to let me know of a good location to search for these magnificent snakes. This individual was about a meter long and thick-bodied. It was sunning itself early in the morning when I spotted it. I kept returning to it over a period of an hour or so to check to see if it had moved. When it had warmed itself enough in the sun it headed for the shade where I was no longer able to photograph it. Timber Rattlesnakes deserve a lot of respect and distance. Note that I was using a telephoto lens when I photographed this snake and therefore it truly appears closer in the photograph than it really was. Undisclosed location, Catoctin Mountains, Frederick County, Maryland.
Timber Rattlesnake Enjoying The Morning Sun
I rarely see Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) since I tend to focus on wetland habitats and not the dry rocky outcrops where they live. Rattlesnakes are not all that uncommon in the Catoctin Mountains and those that study them can find them without too much trouble. Bob Cammarata was kind enough to let me know of a good location to search for these magnificent snakes. This individual was about a meter long and thick-bodied. It was sunning itself early in the morning when I spotted it. I kept returning to it over a period of an hour or so to check to see if it had moved. When it had warmed itself enough in the sun it headed for the shade where I was no longer able to photograph it. Timber Rattlesnakes deserve a lot of respect and distance. Note that I was using a telephoto lens when I photographed this snake and therefore it truly appears closer in the photograph than it really was. Undisclosed location, Catoctin Mountains, Frederick County, Maryland.