Close-up of Prairie Rattlesnake-from a distance

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There is a big advantage of having a super long telephoto lens for many shots but none more comforting than when you want to take a photo of a Prairie Rattlesnake like this big guy that is likely around 5 foot long. I was actually standing more than 10 feet away which is a comfortable distance since they can strike up to 1/2 their length from a coiled position. The triangular flattened head and relatively thin neck as well as the "vertically elliptical eye pupils" of this species easily seen in the pic. If you double-click on the pic to see it ultra enlarged, the pits ("lateral heat sensory organs") can be seen between eye and nostril.
According to Colo State Extension"their forked tongues transport microscopic particles from the environment to sensory cells in pits at the roof of the mouth. A rattlesnake uses these pits to track prey it has struck and to gather information about its environment." This guy was found in the relatively unused canal that brings water to Neenoshe that was full of tumbleweeds. I had just commented on how rattlers like that kind of environment which makes a good home to rats they like to eat when this snake came up out of the tumbleweeds to investigate us. SeEtta

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