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Owls, Eagles, Dark Skies, Rattlers, Gila Monsters

Discussion in 'Arizona' started by 2021SR5V64WD, Nov 28, 2024.

  1. Dec 15, 2024 at 2:40 PM
    #21
    2021SR5V64WD

    2021SR5V64WD [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Snakes don't chase ....
    Diamondbacks do coil up and strike a nice pose - but will back off and away from you given the chance.
    Speckled rattlers are chill and hardly move, they don't give 2 cents about much.

    I'm only afraid of the ones I can't see.... otherwise in cases of kingsnakes and gopher snakes I'll grab
    em in a heartbeat. The sonoran kings are real nice, their similarly colored corals are quite deadly tho.
     
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  2. Dec 15, 2024 at 2:48 PM
    #22
    RichochetRabbit

    RichochetRabbit Ping Ping Ping

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    That is what I have experienced. I try to give them as much room as possible. One time I was walking on a trail that is "open, not enclosed like a canyon". I saw a movement of faded green about 5 ft from my left foot ... mojave green rattler. It moved about 25 ft up the trail and annoyingly parked in the middle of the trail. I waited a short time but decided to scramble along a 35 degree incline to give it room. The hill was steep enough and covered with tiny-prickly-spine plants and I needed to use my hands to balance ... I bought Nair at a Walgreens 2 miles from the trailhead so get all of the invisible spikes out. :annoyed: But at least I was long past the position the snake took when I rejoined the trail.
     
  3. Dec 15, 2024 at 7:57 PM
    #23
    2021SR5V64WD

    2021SR5V64WD [OP] Well-Known Member

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    The Mohave is an interesting specimen, producing both Hemotoxic and Neurotoxic venom, most produce one or the other....
    So with the Mohave you never know what you're gonna get, but you can bet it's gonna be damn expensive and hurt like hell.

    I'm quite comfortable being 3-4 feet away, lying down, getting the shot - having a 100-400mm lens helps LOL


    upload_2024-12-15_20-55-29.png
     
  4. Dec 15, 2024 at 8:09 PM
    #24
    RichochetRabbit

    RichochetRabbit Ping Ping Ping

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    I was not THAT close, at least after I saw movement and stopped walking while it moved away. Here is another what I can only guess is Mojave Green, not too alarmed by all of the people at the trailhead ... it was only about 50 ft from a concrete-based ramada with restrooms and water fountains. An asian visitor (I cannot tell which just by the language) was trying to follow it into the bushes with a camera and his wife was yelling in their language (probably translated as "You stupid idiotic moron ..."). I asked her if I should drag him back by his shirt collar, she said "yes".

    And a bonus picture of a desert tortoise who seemed non-too-pleased to have me around.

    MojaveRattlesnake.jpg DesertTortoise.jpg
     
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  5. Dec 16, 2024 at 7:47 AM
    #25
    Atl-atl

    Atl-atl Well-Known Member

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    So I sent this pic to my buddy from college who is an Ornithologist. He confirmed that they are Western Screech Owls.
     
  6. Dec 16, 2024 at 9:54 AM
    #26
    2021SR5V64WD

    2021SR5V64WD [OP] Well-Known Member

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    That might be a speckled -

    Tell Tale sign is the number and size of the scales on the head - the Mohave has much fewer but much larger 'plate-like' scales on the head.
    Next time get real close like 6 inches away and you can tell better ( just kidding... )


    upload_2024-12-16_10-48-35.png


    Also the tails of the Mohave ( black and white striped pattern ) aren't as 'tight' as the diamondback, something like a 2-1 ratio of white-space..

    Diamondback:
    upload_2024-12-16_10-51-9.png

    Mohave:
    upload_2024-12-16_10-51-33.png

    Either way, you don't wann fk around with these things -
    The old saying says Fk Around And Find Out ....

    And just FYI: If I ever walk up on one, I stop dead cold and scan all around me as it could be a male
    tracking down a very nearby female.... or perhaps there are 2-3 males sniffing out a female... all in
    the vicinity of where I'm standing.
     
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  7. Dec 16, 2024 at 10:03 AM
    #27
    RichochetRabbit

    RichochetRabbit Ping Ping Ping

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    If Jim Croce had lived in AZ it would not have just been Superman cape, the wind, the Lone Ranger mask and Jim that you do not mess around with.
     
  8. Dec 17, 2024 at 12:58 PM
    #28
    Phlogiston

    Phlogiston There are no victims, only volunteers.

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    that there would be a speckled rattlesnake.
    Mojave green is a bit of a misnomer, the green hue doesn't mean it's a mojave, the green one posted above looks like a blacktail, not a mojave. As 2021 said up there, Mojave and western diamond back will look almost identical to the untrained eye. I frequently get them mixed up because i don't spend much time trying to differentiate between them.
     
  9. Dec 17, 2024 at 1:16 PM
    #29
    Twitch57

    Twitch57 Well-Known Member

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    "I was poking it with a stick when all the sudden it bit me"
    - Virtually every person who needed medical treatment related to an animal

    *with the exception of a guy who found a rattle snake the fun way while climbing
     
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  10. Dec 17, 2024 at 3:34 PM
    #30
    RichochetRabbit

    RichochetRabbit Ping Ping Ping

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    I am another exception. I was hiking in SouthMountainPark just minding my own business when someone dog got playful and jumped at me on the far side of the trail. If I had not pulled my arm away fast it would have been more than a deep skin scrape ... might have broken the skin.
     
  11. Dec 17, 2024 at 4:19 PM
    #31
    Twitch57

    Twitch57 Well-Known Member

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    that’s unfortunate for sure

    but that’s not the fault of a wild animal

    that’s the fault of one of these post covid “dog parent” shitheads who think it’s ok to let their aggressive dog they can’t control off leash around others

    I love dogs but I now carry oc when hiking after being near attacked multiple times
     
  12. Dec 17, 2024 at 5:54 PM
    #32
    2021SR5V64WD

    2021SR5V64WD [OP] Well-Known Member

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    I see the most out on Pima Canyon Trail - the main 'road-trail'....
    I've got better images of this blue spec somewhere just can't find 'em right now.
    He was setup under a tree within reaching distance on the trail.

    Dude was chill as hell didn't give a rats-ass that I was getting within 2 feet of it... lousy camera and a lousy lens but it's all I had at the time.

    upload_2024-12-17_18-52-17.png
     
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  13. Dec 17, 2024 at 6:11 PM
    #33
    RichochetRabbit

    RichochetRabbit Ping Ping Ping

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    The ones who hang out on the big-main-road-trail (was a road anyone could drive up until about 15 years ago I am told) know people better and just move casually off the trail with just a minor rattle to say "do not follow". The gila monster I saw was on National Trail, about 1 mile in from the park bench near Pima Trailhead ... more secluded and less busy. The green one who coiled and rattled (probably speckled, I guess) was on Bursera Trail on the far side of the hill from the parking lot ... guess it expected privacy.

    On an aside ... someone told me of coming down off Eliminator Trail (now just "Eliminator section of Prospector Loop") after midnight, dropped onto Gila and right in the middle of a dozen coyotes. He decided to play "crazy human" instead of just waiting ... waving arms and yelling. All of the coyotes just looked at him like "damn humans should stay home!" and casually walked into the darkness.
     
  14. Dec 17, 2024 at 8:20 PM
    #34
    Cushmaat

    Cushmaat Well-known wiseass.

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