Rattlesnake!

http://jaimejohnson.ze​nfolio.com/

Canon 1D Mark III - Canon 500mm f4 L

Beautiful capture! He doesn't look pleased.

Great shot. Another good reason to own a 500!

500mm lens and he's still pretty pissed about you being too close!! Great shot.

He was hoping for a mouse... nice capture and find.
A very cool critter!

Very nice, snakes are amazing animals.

Very nice Crotalus viridis AKA Prairie Rattlesnake.

Jaime - great shot... love the detail and the capture of the tongue.

I read it as 50mm and was a little concerned....great find and great shot.

These snakes rarely strike except to fed or in extreme cases of self defense.
Most victims either stepped directly on the snake, or tried to handle it... dah!

Given the chance, most snakes will retreat rather than strike; their venom is precious to them.

blackhawk wrote in post #9693670
These snakes rarely strike except to fed or in extreme cases of self defense.
Most victims either stepped directly on the snake, or tried to handle it... dah!

Given the chance, most snakes will retreat rather than strike; their venom is precious to them.

Well put - the other interesting thing is that they monitor heat. In order to get this shot, I actually used my tripod as a long pole to hold down weeds that were in the way. The tripod was just inches drom the snake and it was un-interested because the tripod had no heat signature!

This was taken at a snake den site - there were tons of rattlesnakes everywhere you looked! The den is about 60 miles from my home - we visit it a few times a year for photos. We always use high snake leggings -

jaimej26 wrote in post #9693932
Well put - the other interesting thing is that they monitor heat. In order to get this shot, I actually used my tripod as a long pole to hold down weeds that were in the way. The tripod was just inches drom the snake and it was un-interested because the tripod had no heat signature!

This was taken at a snake den site - there were tons of rattlesnakes everywhere you looked! The den is about 60 miles from my home - we visit it a few times a year for photos. We always use high snake leggings -

I've always thought these were a sophisticated species... of snake that is. A really beautiful creature too.
Interesting how it ignored your tripod. I know they hunt at night using just smell and their heat pits. The heat pits are very sensitive to thermal sources.
Guess if it's cold, it ain't no concern!

Because of snake hunters preying on the snakes that have audible rattlers more frequently than their silent brethren, the silent variant is now the predominant subspecies in some areas as a noisy warning no longer favors their survival.
Not good for man or beast... more care is now needed because of these senseless hunts.

jaimej26 wrote in post #9685027
http://jaimejohnson.ze​nfolio.com/

Canon 1D Mark III - Canon 500mm f4 L

Bet you used ALL of the 500m!

Very nice work! Good 'nads to be able to do that.

jaimej26 wrote in post #9693932
Well put - the other interesting thing is that they monitor heat. In order to get this shot, I actually used my tripod as a long pole to hold down weeds that were in the way. The tripod was just inches drom the snake and it was un-interested because the tripod had no heat signature!

This was taken at a snake den site - there were tons of rattlesnakes everywhere you looked! The den is about 60 miles from my home - we visit it a few times a year for photos. We always use high snake leggings -

Great shot, curious to see what snake leggings look like as you don't see many this side of the pond

edit just used google