Largish Rattlesnake Encounter in Sierras

Yikes!
Thanks for sharing.

I've heard these things taste like rattlesnake:

I've seen more rattlesnakes in one day at Pate Valley, as compared to any other small area. They must like the heat there.

–B.G.–

That IS a healthy specimen!

Yeah, we gots critters here in FL.

This year, though, I've had more black racers in the yard than anything else. Those boogers have attitude.

Your mom sounds just like mine and I'm 45 yrs old. I was out in Central Pa this summer and reached down to grab a piece of Birch Bark for a fire starter and got the scare of a lifetime when a large Rattler was no less than 2 feet from my outstretched hand. I was in the middle of nowhere, many miles from any help. He let me know he was there and with respect I walked away.

Looks like a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.

I was curious so I did a little reading about them on the CA Herpetology website…

I had always assumed (maybe just based on my own experiences) that ~7,000' was about the highest elevation to expect to commonly see rattlers in the CA mountains. A couple of years ago I saw a small one at about the 7,000' mark in SEKI. It was the highest I had ever seen a rattler at.

But according to the CA Herps site, Northern Pacific Rattlers are found up to 11,000' in elevation and cover a territory from Santa Barbara County all the way up into Oregon (and beyond) and from the coast all the out to the Owens River Valley.

The site also suggests that a 5' specimen like yours is about the biggest they get. So nice find!

In the northern parts of California, rattlesnakes might be found as high as about 7000 feet, but in the southern parts, they can go higher. One time I photographed a rattlesnake at the top end of the Bubbs Creek Trail in Kings Canyon, and the elevation was 9050 feet. In other words, if it is warmer, they can go higher.

–B.G.–

Sorry (in case your mom is reading) but they are found everywhere in the Sierra, regardless of elevation. The highest recorded sighting (from a book about snakes in the Sierra I read a few years back) was on Sally Keyes Peak around 11,000 feet. The ones in the high granite look almost black sometimes.

They do thrive in greater numbers at lower elevations, particularly near waterways, and swim really well. I've found snake skin in the alpine and nearly stepped on a tiny rattler once crossing a creek. We had to throw rocks to get one off the trail in Muir Gorge once – he was stretched all the way across the trail and not moving, and there was no way around him.

" We had to throw rocks to get one off the trail in Muir Gorge once – he was stretched all the way across the trail and not moving, and there was no way around him."

So YOU were the ones who damaged his tail! tisk tisk. :-(

They seem very uncommon at higher elevations. At some point you have to draw the line on the distribution maps and most of them do not extend into the high sierra.

I saw a Roadrunner at Pinnacles (west side) about a decade ago. I though that was pretty unusual, but it is still inside their distribution map…just very rare I guess. I should have checked the date – maybe it was a partial answer to where the ones in Arizona go when they "disappear". Presumably the issue is more than just prey items. Some think they crawl into a bush somewhere and go into a state of torpor for several months. Also I hear bigfoot gets around too, but never have seen him.

Nice pics. Fat snake.

Seeing venomous snakes is quite common here in Oz in some places. We go around.

Cheers

"This year, though, I've had more black racers in the yard than anything else. Those boogers have attitude."

Yeah, black racers are hyper to the max. I guess it comes from eating low cal food items – like one of my former collaborators who did a caloric restriction diet. I only caught one and observed it once – I think it had a seizure out of stress. So out of guilt I never tried that again.

My favorite down there were the Red Rat (Corn) Snakes – very close cousin in both looks and temperament to the gopher snakes out here in the west. They are more laid back than "The Dude" and seem to like being held by people. I once picked up a monster 7 foot one crossing the beach end of a pier I fished at – I didn't want the idiot rednecks there to mess with it so I moved it well away from the pier. It hardly noticed. All comes from clean living and a rodent diet!

I saw two warming themselves on trail in Northern California in Trinity Alps – 6000 feet elevation. They slithered off trail before I could get picture. One of them rattled at me. I didn't think there would be rattlers there. Deer Creek Trail.

Marko,

You are so right about the Corn snakes!!

They are beauties and I haven't heard of (though I'm sure it's happened) one biting someone. Scare the crap out of my girls though!!!!!

As critter lovers we are always happy to spot another first for us. Here is a little Northern pacific rattler we saw in the Yosemite valley this September. Sitting inches from along side the trail. It never made a sound.

This little cutie was far less threatening

.

jimmby

I guess they pretty much spend %90 of their time sitting just like that. I think every other rattler I have seen in CA (and probably the %95 I walked by and completely missed) where doing just that. It was cool to see one that was both big, and apparently in hunting mode when I ran into it. The only other one that was moving when I saw it was a little baby 10" one near my house that rattled at me from about 6 feet away from the side of the trail. I was like "Seriously dude?"

Yes Marco,
seeing one like you did would certainly add to the excitement. Even when the little buggers are not venomous its fun to see them in action. This guy below was also in hunting mode when we spotted him in an ADK lake in NY this summer. He was hunting along the lake side and was in "NO BS" mode. We were sitting with our legs dangling in the water and he startled the wife a bit. I went to move him gently away with a stick but he just got more of an attitude so we moved away from him and let him do his thing. After watching him for a while he closed in on some prey. He spotted a frog sitting on the shore line and the wife and I thought for sure the little amphib. was a goner. The first thing that goes through your head is to save the helpless little frog but we did not interfere. Much to our surprise that little frog beat out the snakes strike by what seemed like a mile. Then the snake dove back into the water and started snapping frustratingly at any little fish that was near him. He wasn't having any luck with that either. Glad that we have not come across any poisonous critters with an attitude like that.

I saw a very large rattlesnake over 9000ft near the top of San Jacinto. The trail was just about the only section of dry ground – everything else was snow. It obviously didn't want to leave the trail so I happily bypassed it on snow.

They are in the Sierra, but they seem well behaved. The only one I saw rattle was on the Mist trail just outside of the Yosemite valley.

While rock climbing in the Eight Mile Creek area in Washington state I had just dropped a sling down a slot in a large rock and was about to reach underneath to grab it and set up a belay, when I heard a rattle. I jumped about 10 feet (fortunately it was at the top of a face) and looked back to see a rattle snake in a museum-perfect rattlesnake hideout. Wide, low, clear area underneath a flat-bottomed rock, a cool spot in the summer heat, smooth and sandy, with a rattler just sitting there. He left in a hurry, I was spooked the rest of the day and thought I saw rattlers under every rock and dangling from every tree.

Lesson…in rattler country look first before you stick your hands (or sling) down into rock crevices.

I've seen a few in Yosemite Valley, but only two in the high country in many years. One on a trail above Donner Pass off Hwy 80, and one on a ledge my climbing partner mantled onto in Tuolumne Meadows. Luckily he mantled onto the ledge on away from the snake.

I've taken to calling the trail from the top of Nevada Falls to Merced Lake 'rattlesnake alley'. Certain years seem worse than others, although maybe it's just the luck of the draw. But there have been years when I've seen four different snakes on one trip in this area; often, I'll see one or two.

the first time was in early spring; there was still snow in patches on the ground. I'd spread out my tent and was backing away when I looked behind me. I was practically standing on a five foot rattler. It was just barely moving. It must have just come out of hibernation, as I watched it very slowly crawl off.

the next spring I got buzzed by a really fat, large snake and then saw three more on that trip to Lake Merced.

Bears I don't mind; rattlesnakes, I hate.

"While rock climbing in the Eight Mile Creek area in Washington state I had just dropped a sling down a slot in a large rock and was about to reach underneath to grab it and set up a belay, when I heard a rattle."

Lots of rattlers in the Icicle.

I feel really left out when it comes to rattlesnakes in the Sierra. I've been backpacking there for many years now, and have yet to see a rattler, either on East Side sagebrush scrub approaches, prime rattlesnake country, or in the Roads End area of KCNP. Maybe I need to change my deodorant? OTOH, while running the Wild West Marathon near Lone Pine, I saw a Marko class rattler coiled up in the middle of a fire road that was part of the route. The runners would pass him on either side, giving him a very wide berth, and yell out to those behind, "SNAAAKE!!!". The wide berth was a very wise idea, as he was really pi$$ed, rattling like crazy and weaving back and forth to track each runner as they came by. It was a surreal scene that served as an ominous harbinger of my poor finish, due to hyperthermia my first time on the course.