Mohave Green

kdog · April 6, 2011

My first Mohave Green Rattler. He/she was just hanging out in the middle of a dirt road not too far from home, and none too pleased to see me. Most dangerous snake in North America. :nod

Comments welcome, and thanks for looking.

-joel

Brian_S · April 6, 2011

great pictures, excellent detail but...after seeing these think i'd rather have the snow and no snakes

DeVerm · April 6, 2011

Tell me you had at least a 70-200mm on a crop camera... I would've been out of there in a flash haha

#2 is my favourite!

ciao!
Nick.

Marcy · April 6, 2011

great shots - I ran into one in the Sedona area but it was not interested in posing and just slithered off - here is a link to another shot you might want to see if you have not - it is spectacular
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/997377

bgarland · April 7, 2011

Great shots! Mohaves are the one rattle snake species that freak me out.

Nicely done.

JohnDC · April 7, 2011

You Dog, Joel! Great shots. Very dynamic, threatening postures and colors caught on the snake. With those elevated coils, it really does look ready to strike, and I never knew they had purple tongues. The photos do justice to the reputation.
---John

DsrtVW · April 7, 2011

Looks like a very well fed specimen too. Great shots

Ric Grupe · April 7, 2011

Cool shots, Joel...the last one for me.:D

I see you were smart enough to use the 100-400!

kdog · April 7, 2011

Brian_S wrote: »

great pictures, excellent detail but...after seeing these think i'd rather have the snow and no snakes

Haha, thanks Brian. Snakes don't usually bother me, I think it's a professional courtesy. :giggle

DeVerm wrote: »

Tell me you had at least a 70-200mm on a crop camera... I would've been out of there in a flash haha

#2 is my favourite!

ciao!
Nick.

Thanks, Nick. Yeah, it was a 100-400, and at the longer end at that. It still made me nervous lying that close to something that's pissed at you and could kill you in a heartbeat.

Marcy wrote: »

great shots - I ran into one in the Sedona area but it was not interested in posing and just slithered off - here is a link to another shot you might want to see if you have not - it is spectacular
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/997377

Thanks, Marcy. Funny I saw that same shot posted on Facebook just after processing mine. Needless to say I was supremely jealous of that comp, although I would not want to be surprised like that. :eek1

bgarland wrote: »

Great shots! Mohaves are the one rattle snake species that freak me out.

Nicely done.

Thanks, Brad. Yes, the Mohave is one critter that deserves an especially wide berth.

JohnDC wrote: »

You Dog, Joel! Great shots. Very dynamic, threatening postures and colors caught on the snake. With those elevated coils, it really does look ready to strike, and I never knew they had purple tongues. The photos do justice to the reputation.
---John

Thanks very much, John. That posturing does command your full attention.

DsrtVW wrote: »

Looks like a very well fed specimen too. Great shots

Thanks, Chris. He does look well fed now that you mention it.

Ric Grupe wrote: »

Cool shots, Joel...the last one for me.:D

I see you were smart enough to use the 100-400!

Thanks Ric, and indeed that was the 100-400 which pretty much lives on my 7D now. It's six years old and works better than ever, especially on these newer bodies.

PGM · April 7, 2011

Joel, those are great scary shots! I can't pick a favorite. Now that you have your photos of this dangerous snake, you don't have to lie down in front of one again, right? Terrific job! Best, Pam

Wossa · April 7, 2011

Incredible, just amazing shots....what a wonderful sight to see.

anwmn1 · April 7, 2011

Very sweet shots Joel. I like the poses in #2 and #3 the most. I noticed he has a little red on him in those pictures as well. I wonder if he had a fresh kill?

Harryb · April 8, 2011

All are excellent images Joel, but that first one is a stunner.

JimW396 · April 8, 2011

Amazing! You have nothing to be jealous about with the other photo mentioned. Both are superb but yours' is the winner. VERY nice captures! Thanks for sharing them with us.

kdog · April 8, 2011

PGM wrote: »

Joel, those are great scary shots! I can't pick a favorite. Now that you have your photos of this dangerous snake, you don't have to lie down in front of one again, right? Terrific job! Best, Pam

Thanks, Pam! Actually with all these nice comments, I'm inspired to go out and shoot some more.

Wossa wrote: »

Incredible, just amazing shots....what a wonderful sight to see.

Thanks, Wossa. I've shot rattlers a few times now, and it's always an amazing experience.

anwmn1 wrote: »

Very sweet shots Joel. I like the poses in #2 and #3 the most. I noticed he has a little red on him in those pictures as well. I wonder if he had a fresh kill?

Thanks, Aaron. I saw that red spot on a few of the shots. I suspect you're right about it being blood. I suspect he was sunning himself after a nice meal.

Harryb wrote: »

All are excellent images Joel, but that first one is a stunner.

Thanks very much, Harry. That's my favorite as well.

JimW396 wrote: »

Amazing! You have nothing to be jealous about with the other photo mentioned. Both are superb but yours' is the winner. VERY nice captures! Thanks for sharing them with us.

Thanks very much for the kind words, Jim. It was nice that the road afforded a good unobstructed view of him. It was a fortunate encounter indeed.

Gale · April 8, 2011

If I saw that I would be running so fast in the other direction there sure would not be any pictures..
Not sure whether to say great shots or, you are crazy:>)))

jeff lapoint · April 8, 2011

outstanding!!!

Sher · April 10, 2011

love the profile view of #2, just simply stunning
thank goodness i haven't seen one yet in the desert, not if i have a 400mm though

korandoke · April 10, 2011

beautiful images of the rattlesnake, the latest top

kind regards
Korandoke

Dennis Kaczor · April 10, 2011

Joel, very nice and I like number 2 in this set.

kdog · April 12, 2011

Gale wrote: »

If I saw that I would be running so fast in the other direction there sure would not be any pictures..
Not sure whether to say great shots or, you are crazy:>)))

Thanks, Gale. A little of both probably. I'll tell you it's a bit unnerving to be lying on the ground 10' away from this sucker.

jeff lapoint wrote: »

outstanding!!!

Thanks very much, Jeff.

Sher wrote: »

love the profile view of #2, just simply stunning
thank goodness i haven't seen one yet in the desert, not if i have a 400mm though

Thanks, Sher. The profiles to show the power of the snake, don't they? Next time I'd prefer to have my 500 with me I think.

korandoke wrote: »

beautiful images of the rattlesnake, the latest top

kind regards
Korandoke

Thanks, K!

Dennis Kaczor wrote: »

Joel, very nice and I like number 2 in this set.

Thanks, Dennis. #2 is looking like the favorite here.

Cheers,
-joel

Lindiwe · April 12, 2011

Simply stunning images, all three of them.

bow

I'm in awe.
In the same situation, I'm sure I would've done something stupid, and got bitten. We have some pretty poisonous snakes over this side of the globe, but none of them scare me the way this critter would.

kdog · April 15, 2011

Lindiwe wrote: »

Simply stunning images, all three of them.
bow

I'm in awe.
In the same situation, I'm sure I would've done something stupid, and got bitten. We have some pretty poisonous snakes over this side of the globe, but none of them scare me the way this critter would.

Thanks very much Lindiwe! You get used to them after a while.

PGM · April 15, 2011

Joel, I just read that you were TEN feet away from this snake. Now seriously, you just can't do this again. You have a responsibility to keep participating in dgrin, which could be greatly compromised if you die from a snakebite! Best, Pam