Snake, Rattle and Roll

The diamond back rattlesnake lay low in the grass, nudging up against a sable palm tree. He was flat, had an almost collapsed look. I wondered if he had died. There wasn’t any movement visible. I picked up a palm frond and gave a nudge. Oh-oh! This boy was wide awake now.

He reared up, hissing. His rattler tail uncoiled and it, too, stood straight up. He did his thing…. Rattling like the killer he is.

I retreated. And I eyed him cautiously. I was in the midst of clearing my five acre patch of grass for cutting. We’d had a storm in the night and a huge number of palm fronds had fallen. All these have to be picked up and carted off before I mount my massive Gravely grass-cutter to mow.

The snake maintained his belligerent rattling and I moved away from him. After I took my load of fronds to the dump, I stopped by our motor home to pick up my camera before returning to the snake. But he had slipped away in my absence. So I finished picking up my debris field and returned in another hour with the Gravely.

I love how it is possible to pivot the Gravely around a palm tree. With the right touch, you nudge the front wheel up against the tree trunk, and then you spin your rear wheels and move forward. The tractor rotates close to the tree trunk. Nice and clean. I did that about 50 times before I came across the rattlesnake again. He had found another tree to lean up against. But he could feel the vibrations of my massive machine so his tail was already up and rattling when I reached his tree.

I veered off so as not to hurt him but he had no sense of humor about this annoying human. So he reared up again and again to tell me to stay away from his patch of grass.

So, should you come to Honeymoon Island State Park in the next week, and you head down to the grassy picnic area, you’ll enjoy the rather nice lawn I have prepared for you. But there is one little patch beside a Sable Palm where the grass grows tall and I won’t be able to get to it before we leave this wonderful park at the end of our three months here on Tuesday. And I never did get a picture of him. Sorry about that.

Here's some information about the diamond rattlesnake:

Eastern diamondbacks are primarily terrestrial (living on the surface of the ground), rarely climbing into trees and infrequently going underground during the summer. During winter, movements decrease; rattlesnakes in the northern part of the range often stay below ground, but those further south still remain on the surface much of the time.

Rattles probably evolved as a warning device to protect the snake from being accidentally crushed by large, hoofed mammals. The rattle is composed of hollow, interlocking segments that click against each other when the tail is vibrated. Rattlesnakes gain a new segment to the rattle every time they shed their skin. Since they may shed from one to three times per year, one cannot accurately estimate the age of the snake simply by counting segments. Segments also break off as the snake grows older.

Like all vipers, rattlesnakes have a pair of long, movable hypodermic, needle-like fangs that fold against the roof of the mouth when not in use. These fangs are connected to venom glands on each side of the rattlesnake's head. Rattlesnake heads are large to accommodate these venom glands. During a strike, venom is pumped by muscles surrounding the venom glands, through the fangs into prey. Rattlesnakes are also known as pit-vipers and possess two heat-sensitive pits on either side of their face. These pits are sense organs and detect radiant heat, and aid rattlesnakes in locating prey and increase striking accuracy. These pits are extremely sensitive and can distinguish differences in temperature of less than 0.2 C. These advanced systems evolved in pit-vipers as a means of obtaining food. It is the most advanced system that snakes have for capturing prey, and reduces the chances of injury to the snake.

The venom of rattlesnakes is actually a digestive enzyme and is a complex mixture of proteins. The primary purpose of venom is to kill and digest prey. Venom is used in defense only as a last resort. Some venoms attack the nervous system (neurotoxic) while others attack the blood and tissue (hemotoxic). The eastern diamondback, like most rattlesnakes, has a combination of both types, but unlike most vipers, it has more neurotoxic properties.