The early morning warmth of the sun in Stanton, Arizona was enough to coax a nice fat Western Diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) out onto this dirt road.
Our heavier winter precipitation helped produce plenty of plant life which means lots of insects and rodents to feed the snakes. While they are a potential danger they are also useful predators of many rodents).
As you can see this fellow was not at all happy that I disturbed his peace (these rattlesnakes are known to be very defensive when encountered) and rattled loudly when I encouraged him to get off of the road and into the safety of the vegetation.
