My resident rattler went to his/her hunting blind at 6:30 PM this evening, about thirty minutes earlier than usual. Notice how well it blends in with the shadows, as well as when it's in the light.
It seemed agitated and soon left to prowl around, which made me extremely nervous, and more determined than ever to get it relocated sooner, rather than later.
After a little while it settled back into its blind. I held my breath as a couple of Scaled Quail investigated, surely within striking range.
When they departed I got distracted photographing a Black-headed Grosbeak.
Suddenly I became aware that the rattler had made a kill. I was so relieved to see the bird's identity... a Brown-headed Cowbird. Notice the cowbird is right on the spot the quail had occupied minutes earlier.
The snake held the struggling bird firmly, waiting for the venom to do its work. It took a while, but within 10 minutes the cowbird was gasping for breath, then dead.
Here is the last photo of the 138 I took.
6 comments:
Very dramatic. Glad it was a cowbird and not the quail. Also was wondering if you've gotten any rain out of this most recent rain event? Robert Mace
Got half an inch. Enough to where I don't have to haul water for a week. Maybe we'll get more rain before then. I'm hoping.
Nice sequence of photos. I hope it gets more of those cowbirds.
This is a Western Diamondbacked Rattlesnake, not a Mojave. They have different overall patterns and the tail banding is different. Mojaves have "white tails with narrow black bands" whereas Diamondbacks have even black and white bands on their tails.
Another clue that general works in areas like Brewster county is that Diamonbacks blotches are generally less perfectly "diamond-shaped". Mojaves have better diamonds than diamondbacks. Mojave's tend to be found on grasslands and alluvial plains in the Trans-Pecos while Diamondbacks can show up anywhere.
Here's a Mojave from Hudspeth County for comparison - http://www.pbase.com/sandboa/image/143240420.jpg
Chris Harrison
Oops, take the jpg off the photo line above to see the Hudspeth Co. Mojave.
http://www.pbase.com/sandboa/image/143240420
Thank you so much for the correction, Chris. I've made the appropriate changes.
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