Herpetofauna - One Life's List

Northern Blacktail Rattler
Crotalus molossus molossus

Val Verde Co., Texas, May 23, 1997.
 


 

 It was after midnight, and we were fifty or more feet off the ground, clambering around on narrow ledges on an outcrop of weathered stone.  The air had cooled off, but the rock was still warm from the previous day's sun, and were now TROs (Thermally Radiating Objects) bleeding heat into the air.

This was a bit of craziness - one slip and someone could be seriously injured.  Then Steve flashed his light on a large flat rock near the top, and there was a small Blacktail, coiled and soaking up heat from the rock!  A large bulge in mid-body indicated a recent meal, another reason for the snake to remain on a warm surface.

The Blacktail pictured here was found on the Juno Road -  its adventure is chronicled in the journal The Schwan Man Cometh, Chapter 8 in Return To The Trans-Pecos.


 
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