My theory is unseasonably hot temperatures brought them out of their dens early. And the temperature did peak at 99° (F) this afternoon. But for whatever reason, after more than 600 near-daily hikes up in the Wasatch foothill, this morning dog and I encountered our first Utah rattlesnakes.
Yep, plural.
The first encounter came along a deer trail we take fairly often, as I was investigating what sounded like the song of a tanager. [Aside: I believe it was a tanager, but I’m unsure enough that I don’t officially list it here.] Said aloud to Jack: “Gotta watch for snakes!” And maybe a half-minute later, a couple steps after I’d photographed a dragonfly, the loud, clear rattle came bursting from a patch of trailside foliage about six feet in front of us.
Because of the possibility of rattlers, when the weather gets this warm, I lead the way, with Jack following. At the sound of the rattling, I froze. But Jack (who doesn’t hear so well anymore) caught up and was about to pass me, when I reached and managed to catch his collar and lead him away from the four-foot, ready-to-strike snake, which was mostly hidden from view. It stayed long enough for me to did get a pic of its scales, then slithered off into the undergrowth.
Perhaps 45 minutes or an hour later, as we were returning down a narrow trail we take daily, another rattle erupted from a crevice in a tumble of stones. Never saw that snake, but it convinced us to backtrack and find another route.
Oh, yeah: Pretty good birds today, too.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:02 a.m. (8:02 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Lazuli Bunting
2. Black-headed Grosbeak
3. Black-chinned Hummingbird
4. House Finch**
5. California Quail* (v)
6. Spotted Towhee
7. Song Sparrow*
8. Pine Siskin (v)
9. Rock Pigeon*
10. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
11. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
12. Mourning Dove*
13. Black-capped Chickadee
14. Chipping Sparrow (v)
15. Warbling Vireo (v)
16. Black-billed Magpie*
17. Black-throated Gray Warbler
18. American Robin*
Elsewhere
19. Eurasian Collared-dove
20. European Starling
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
Reptiles
Great Basin Rattlesnake
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
