Coincidentally - my wife Dena forwarded this message to me today -
Because I am a herpetologist,.......................................
Those particular
rattlesnakes are a Southwestern species (Western Diamondback Rattlesnake)
that do not occur in the southeastern US.
No, they most certainly are NOT and they are obviously members of the
"Western Rattlesnake" complex commonly called Prairie Rattlers (Crotalus
viridis), which is found primarily in the NORTHwest.
It would also be highly unusual
to find a collection of juvenile snakes..............
Call me crazy, but they didn't appear to be juveniles to me. Prairie
rattlers just look that way.
This species also does not den during winter because it does
not need to seek very serious hibernation shelter.
The reference is obviously to "Western Diamondbacks" and is partly correct.
I have seen a few dens which were populated by the same members (western
diamondbacks) year after year.
Some snakes in northern
areas of the US will tend to seek the same hibernation shelter which results
in "denning" but that is only because of limited suitable shelter for
hibernation in certain areas.
I'm talking about Southern Arizona, and I still see it.
Snake "denning" is actually a rare
occurrence.
Only since most large dens have been destroyed by humans with ill intent
(dynamite).
they used to be fairly common even in the East, and still are in more remote
areas of the West.
I agree with everything else that followed the above stuff, and think that
the alligator photo was probably a combination of angle and a really small
human standing next to the "gator". Did anyone notice that the rest of the
crowd was standing away from the beastie?
Please don't get too pissed with me, I TRIED to keep quiet, but the devil
made me do it!....or was that Casper?
Ken-In-The-Desert
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