Pygmy Rattlesnake

Now for the post of all posts, the best of the best.  This little snake, my dear readers, is none other than a Pygmy Rattlesnake!  Yes, it is poisonous!!  See how I risk my life for this blog!?

^_^

Well, ok, it was really small; I'm guessing about 6 inches long, maybe a little less.  It was hard to tell because it was coiled up on the branch.  But I got quite a few clear shots of it before it disappeared into the undergrowth.

The whole story about its discovery is pretty amusing.  A woman in my class found it and called me over to look at it.  She asked me what it was, and I looked carefully, but didn't see a rattle at all.  I know there are only four kinds of poisonous snakes in Florida - copperheads, cottonmouths, rattlesnakes, and coral snakes.  I wasn't in Scouting for nothing.  And it definately wasn't the first two or the last one.  So I said, "It's probably a corn snake or something.  Not poisonous." 

So she and I got down close to it, taking these photos.  Then my professor comes by and says, "Oh, that's a pygmy rattlesnake," in his usual calm, easy-going manner.  lol

My classmates were not happy with me, and they said they weren't going to trust me to identify snakes anymore.  I don't really blame them. 

So enjoy these pics.  I have more, if you want to request them, but these are the best.