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Rattlers for babbaloo99 ( Last Nights Pic's )

The Mojave was actually from last weekend... I think the Mojave was about 2 and a half feet Gary.. Nice little feller, I was actually about 4ft away from him, and had to get my Wife to clean the photo up a bit so we could see him better, and came to find the picture was even better than we originally thought.. Thank you for the compliment..
 
TandJ said:
I think the Mojave was about 2 and a half feet Gary.. Nice little feller, I was actually about 4ft away from him
Click to expand...

It always seems like you're just a little too close to a mojave. I almost stepped on this one while looking for a L. splendida. At a little over 3 feet, he was one of the bigger C. scutulatus I've ever seen in West Texas. I was shocked (and relieved) that he didn't coil at such close quarters. I hate to think about what the potential venom yield might have been. ;)

For those of you that haven't herped in the desert Southwest, here is a little herper mental math:

1. An adult Crotalus scutulatus (Mojave Rattlesnake) has an average venom yield of 50-90 mg, averaging 70 mg.

2. Approximately 20-40% of all snake bites are "dry bites", meaning no venom is actually injected in to the victim.

3. The estimated lethal human dose of mojave venom is estimated to be 10-15 mg.

4. Their strike radius is equal to the length of their body.

So, if you get tagged, there is a 60-80% change that you will get evenomated, potentially with an amount that could be as much as 3-5 times the lethal dose. Needless to say, this is a snake that you just don't take chances around. :)
 

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Nasty little feller isn't he... It is the utmost respect for this fellow. The ones that I have found in this area are not to darn mild, always defensive when they are noticed. Typically I tend to stay at about 5ft away, I think that might be the closest I get to the Mojave's. From the best I can understand, the Mojave's venom is capable of nerou paralysis as well as the digestive abilities..

Gary is so right, not a fellow you want to get bite by. Thank you for the information Gary, that is something a lot of people need to take into consideration while herping down in the South West..

Regards..
 
Wow!!

Hey thanks TandJ for the awesome pics! Boy I sure am nieve when it comes to these rattlers. I've always thought they were dangerous but just figured if you got emergency care quickly enough one would be OK. Now I know better! I'm going mountain biking later this evening, so I'm going to keep my eyes open. I'm a lot more fearful now :sidestep:


Nice pic of that little one CAV! Can you tell how old it is by the rings on it's tail? Or is it by how many notches are in the rattle?
 
I had one launch at me while mountain biking. Chilled my pooper for sure!!! It was very wierd though, must have woke up on the wrong side of the rock.
I have also accidentally ran over a baby rattler on a ride, blind corner, if I were walking the same thing would have happened, one of us would have been hurt, me more than likely.

Cool lookin though.
 
My friend has 3 Mojaves in his collection. They are actually among the more mellow of the snakes he has. The Western Diamondbacks he has are far more aggressive. The Greens are really aggressive eaters though, and he really has to be careful. They will wait with their heads pointed at the lid so that when he opens it to put another mouse in, they're ready for it! Almost tagged him once. He's even more careful now!
 
Just be very careful around these guys is all I can say.. I can well imagine the kind of feeding response they would have, I would not want to be tagged.

Regards...
 
You can bet on it! It's amazing, but the diamondbacks are very difficult feeders, and the Mojaves aren't at all. Must be their layed back personalities.....
 
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