Rattle My Nerves

This post dedicated to Steve, Chase, and Tim--maybe a little exposure to snakes will help with your extreme phobias of our slithering friends.
All photographs in this post courtesy of my friend Melissa.

We went out to our family cattle ranch this past weekend for a little R and R. Instead, there were cattle drives and a new friend made.

The kids were running around in the barn when Max announced, "Rattlesnake!" Claire, our eight year old, was standing directly on top of a rather large diamondback rattler. I wasn't there at the time, but I've been told the scream was like something never heard before. Claire was rather fortunate there was a metal divider between her and the snake. Over the past eleven years, there have been plenty of prairie rattlesnakes seen, but never a diamondback.
Max and Garrett caught the big guy. Much to the disgust and shock of Max's dad and Candido, our ranch manager, Max released the snake at another part of the ranch.
Max's defense in the whole matter was that he had Garrett, the biggest reptile lover on the planet, and Melissa who loves all animals, both hounding him to release. Candido is concerned that the snake will come back where he was found. According to him, this particular breed mates for life.

Guess we'll all be on the look out for the Mrs.

Sssssee you next time.