Snake dancing
 

Living in Arizona we've seen our share of unusual stuff but this last one takes the prize. The other day my wife calls me over to the window: "Hey Hon, there's two snakes outside fighting" This I've never seen so I run over to have a look. Sure enough there are two adult rattlesnakes out at the periphery of our back yard, and acting mighty strange for sure, but that doesn't look like fighting - it looks more like some kind of ... mating ritual??

Gotta get pictures, so I grab the camera and run ... uh, tiptoe out there. Get to about 10 feet of them and they're still going at it and totally oblivious to my presence. Trying to get a bit closer got their attention so I pretty much stayed in back of that invisible line and took my pictures. This was one of the few times I wished I had a video camera.

Now I've seen plenty of rattlers in the wild but in all my years on this Earth I have never seen anything quite like this, which is why I wanted to share it with you. I hope the pictures below are visible, as I have had some problems in the past getting pictures to show up in my posts. In retrospect the pictures don't really do it justice. This 'dance' went on for at least 3 hours consisting of head bobbing, intertwining, neck craning and weaving (do snakes even have necks?), separating and reconnecting, trance like gazing, ... it was really quite the show.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/pictur...pictureid=1642

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/pictur...pictureid=1643

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/pictur...pictureid=1644

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/pictur...pictureid=1645

Re: Snake dancing
 

Very cool!
Thanks for sharing the dance with us.:tu

Of course, many here will think that's why we Arizonans
don't go out to B&M's often.

Re: Snake dancing
 

Re: Snake dancing
 

Those are really good shots! I think I have better moves though! :tu

Re: Snake dancing
 

Where is the screaming like a little girl smiley?

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Re: Snake dancing
 

Very Cool!

Re: Snake dancing
 

Pics or ban :D

Re: Snake dancing
 

great pictures. Me, i'd be freaking out because of the one i don't see.

Re: Snake dancing
 

Very cool. I bet it's an adrenaline rush when you come upon one in the wild.

Re: Snake dancing
 

Those are some fantastic pics!!! Very Nice!

Re: Snake dancing
 

Yeah, my wife hasn't set foot out back since.

Interestingly, in all my encounters with rattlers in the wild I have never had one advance on me. They always hold their ground or retreat - never advance. During this mating ritual, however, when I got too close the two snakes immediately disengaged, one retreated, and the other started moving towards me. I'm assuming that one is the male.

Re: Snake dancing
 

You asked for it....

http://photos-c.ll.facebook.com/phot...04634_5144.jpg

Re: Snake dancing
 

Great pics! Just think how many more you will have in the yard after, well however long it takes. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Snake dancing
 

Those are some neat pics! Thanx for sharing.

Re: Snake dancing
 

It's electric! Boogie-woogie-woogie-woogie!!!

Re: Snake dancing
 

That's what I call, True Love.

Re: Snake dancing
 

Very nice photos!!!

Glad you captured that rare event!!!

Thank you!!!:tu

Re: Snake dancing
 

A Mohave Green WILL advance on you, they are quite pissy and agressive.
And yes, you got a very rare glimps at Rattle snake Looooove ...
I hate rattle snakes,
I once sat for quite a long time and watched a King snake kill and eat a Diamondback ... That was cool.

Re: Snake dancing
 

I will go further than hate rattle snakes I hate snakes period! Run like a little girl!

I did get to see this though once out in western Kansas. There were out in the middle of the country in the ditch of the dirt road. Didn't stick around though to take pictures. Very good shots and you got a LOT closer to them than I ever would have!

Re: Snake dancing
 

Steve Irwin would roll over in his grave if he saw what I would do to them things. Not much of a snake man! I'm not really scared of them, just don't like them.

Cool pics though!

Re: Snake dancing
 

:dance: you weren't lying when you said you had better moves :r

Re: Snake dancing
 

I would like to see their moves after a couple of rounds of #4 in 12 ga.

Re: Snake dancing
 

If it had of been me, I would have gone and got my gun, not my camera. After I shot both their heads off, then I might have taken a picture. I freaking HATE snakes bro.

Re: Snake dancing
 

:tpd:

We had a nest of Copperheads by our house, use to whack their heads off with a shovel and drape their lifeless body over the fence as a reminder to all the others... didn't seem to work. :confused:

Re: Snake dancing
 

According to the field guide: " ... 4 to 25 young, 8 1/2 to 13 inches, are born in late summer." :eek: Yikes!!

Re: Snake dancing
 

My response had I been there?

1) Camera, get a couple shots. Maybe turn on the video camera for a bit.

2) Return camera to the house.

3) Get shotgun.

4) Load shotgun.

5) Go back outside.

6) Make sure there doesn't become a bunch of little snakes in the yard. (I gots two inquisitive sons and a nosey dog)

7) Gut snakes and remove hides and rattles.

8) Grill the meat & tan hides & preserve rattles.

9) Sell hides and rattles.

10) Buy cigars with profits made from hides and rattles.

11) Thank God for providing me with some disposable income that I might enjoy the fruits of the harvest.

Re: Snake dancing
 

AHHHH "Love is in the air"----
Sing it with me!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR (John Paul Young)

Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound

And I don't know if I'm being foolish
Don't know if I'm being wise
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when I look in your eyes

Love is in the air
In the whisper of the trees
Love is in the air
In the thunder of the sea

And I don't know if I'm just dreaming
Don't know if I feel sane
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when you call out my name

:r:r

Re: Snake dancing
 

I've never run across a Mohave, at least not that I know of. It's mostly Western Diamondbacks around my area. What about up in the mountains, Stitch? What do you typically find up there?

Re: Snake dancing
 

Too funny. I've tried similar and it hasn't worked for me either. Snakes must be slow learners, huh?

Edit: Nice job Reverend! :tu

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Even if I had wanted to do that I couldn't. Our town has an ordinance against discharging firearms within town limits. Too bad, too, cause if that wasn't in place there would be a lot less packrats, rabbits, and chipmunks in town. I do carry a pistol when I'm out hiking or ATV-ing in the desert but haven't had to use it for anything yet.

Re: Snake dancing
 

Cool pics , Thanks for sharing!

Re: Snake dancing
 

This? This is not good, not good at all!!

:r

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Doesn't surprise me for the Air Force though.:D

Re: Snake dancing
 

Now thats not fair because I wanted to be a Marine but they would not let me...my head wouldnt fit in a jar ;)

Re: Snake dancing
 

Cool pictures.

I see a pair of boots though, I don't like snakes.

Re: Snake dancing
 

Thanks.

And just out of curiosity, how many snakes does it take to make a pair of boots, anyway?

Re: Snake dancing
 

Very cool! Mating ritual for sure. :tu That's why there are population spikes during and after recessions...there's nothing else to do. :r :r