Four Corners Furtherance: My rattlesnake sighting

Blogging from Springdale, Utah.

Although I'm still on my Four Corners Furtherance blogging vacation, I thought today's rattlesnake sighting in Zion National Park was worth an early posting.

The rest of my entries will probably begin when I return home next week.

This afternoon I took a walk on the Sand Bench Trail near the Court of The Patriarchs mountains, and I found the and a little tributary to the Virgin River, where I heard what I thought was a hiss. It wasn't. It was a Western Rattlesnake sounding its alarm. These reptiles are said to be shy, but the poisonous snake slithered towards me. It was about three feet long.

Snake sightings are rare, I've read, at Zion, to I should consider myself fortunate--as well as lucky not to have been bitten. It's venom can be fatal.

As for the photograph, I'm quite pleased that I captured the head and the rattle.

If you encounter one of these snakes--just slowly back away.

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Safari 269329 Western Diamondback Rattlesnake