JB's Tales from the Trail. : November 2015

2015 turned to be a banner year for me with Timber Rattlesnakes. These are my favorite snakes, and one of the most awesome creatures in the world. My first find of '15 was on May 31, a pretty brown coloration coiled tightly in a sun spot hidden among the rocks and grass. On June 9th, I walked up on a huge rattlesnake lying in the shade of a cedar. The girth of this snake immediately caught my eye, my hope that it may be a gravid female would turn out to be true. On July 31, Sonya and I decided to take a field road we normally don't visit and were rewarded with a beautifully colored yellow phase timber basking in the road. I took pics and then backed off enough to let him slip quietly away into a pine thicket. I was searching for snakes in the rocks and grass on August 7th and had not been able to find a thing, I made a 180 turn and was more than a little surprised to find a yellow phase rattlesnake only feet from me that appeared to have freshly shed. Amazed at how quietly it had shown up, I took some pics and headed out. On August 18 I found two more rattlers in the rocks and was lucky enough to witness the courtship and mating rituals of the timber rattlesnake. I quietly observed this incredible scene for better than 2 hours taking pics and video while being careful to not disturb them. On August 21st I took a pic of the gravid female coiled in one of her favorite basking spots. She was about a month away at this time from giving birth and just huge, the girth of her body was incredible. I discovered on September 10th that this gravid female I had followed all summer had given birth to 8 newborn. The babies all appeared healthy and were with her for more than 2 weeks before departing. She was very wary and protective of them at all times I observed and she also had an adult male with her for several days after they were born. On September 14th I found a second gravid female that appeared to be ready to give birth at any moment. A couple days later she was no where to be found, hopefully she was able to give birth to a healthy brood. I was able to observe the female and some others well in October before the cool temps arrived and then they were gone. Before summer of 2013 I had never seen a Timber Rattlesnake in the wild, in 2015 I saw 8 different adult rattlers and 8 newborn....plus the bonus of witnessing behavior and observing them in habitat. What an incredible year indeed!