Don't worry. Close focus on the lens I was using was just over 5 feet. When I got closer than that I lost focus. :-)
Don't worry. Close focus on the lens I was using was just over 5 feet. When I got closer than that I lost focus. :-)
I walked through a field taking a shortcut one night near San Antonio TX in the dark and no flashlight and i hear a rattle-BIG rattle and I slowly backed out of there and forgot the shortcut. I've never forgotten that and it was 40 years ago and my boys were catching Rattlesnakes as round as my arm and 3 times as long.
Amazing photos! Great work! But after the photos session, I would have skinned him for dinner and took his tail home for a tie clip or something to be made from it.
Those are some good shots. Glad your ok. I have only stumbled on one in my life. I saw him from 10 feet away those. Can't imagine stepping on one.
I would have guessed it at just shy or right at three feet long. Not a huge rattler but a mature one for sure. Really it was the perfect size to try and get pictures of. The little ones just don't cooperate and the big ones are just way to unpredictable.
When I was in mid-high, a friend of mine told me about someone he knew who'd supposedly been envenomated by a broken fang in a boot (the boot his dad had been wearing when he'd been fatally struck by a rattler). Supposedly, there was just enough venom left in/on the fang fragment to make him sick. Then again, my friend was known for telling a windy or two in his day, so it could've been complete bullsqueeze.
The only person I personally know who's been struck by a venomous snake is my cousin. He was walking through some tall grass when he felt a thump on his boot; he looked down to see a rather unhappy snake, whereupon he un-assed the AO.
He said that it took him a while to stop running, but when he did he looked at his boot and saw these two pin pricks in the leather, each surrounded by perfect little dark circles...
I got hit in the bootheel once out in AZ. I was walking down a dirt path in the dark (like an idiot) and a smallish sidewinder rattled for about a quarter of a second before striking. I managed to levitate about 8 feet to the right when it happened. Still not sure how I managed to pull that off, but I was happy I did!
