This week’s photo challenge was “Beneath Your Feet.”
Pigmy rattlesnakes always look disgruntled, but this one has a really good reason!
It blended in so well, and I was paying so little attention, that I didn’t see it until I was bringing my foot down. I didn’t have time to stop it. I stepped right on it, trying at the last instant not to put too much weight on it.
Next thing I knew, I was standing about six feet away. I think I made an inarticulate squeak as I jumped away.
The snake never tried to strike at me. It just coiled up tighter and glared. I took a quick photo and then I left it alone. Every stick and leaf looked like a snake for the rest of the day.
Overlooked Nature 
Are they poisonous? We don’t have snakes in New Zealand, so don’t know which are harmless. You can always recognise a New Zealand golfer in the USA – they’re the ones looking for their balls in the rough.
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Ha! NZ golfers have little to worry about in some parts of the USA, but in the warmer areas, they might want to look where they’re putting their hands.
Pigmy rattlesnakes are venomous, but there are no reported fatalities. (Source: the University of Florida’s venomous snake FAQ) If you must be bitten by an American pit viper, you’d want it to be a pigmy rattlesnake, but they can still cause a lot of vein and muscle damage.
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Thanks. I’m enjoying your photos and blogs. I think brevity is important when blogging, and there’s never waffling in your writing.
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I never like snake although I’ve touched and hold a snake years ago in our local zoo. But this one surely look beautiful.
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You wouldn’t want to touch this one! They are venomous. But, fortunately for me, they’re not very aggressive.
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