Rattlesnake or Gopher Snake?

[Sombeech]

On a ride today and ran across this li'l fella - http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?72389-Solo-Overlook-Ride

At first I thought it was a Gopher snake, because, well, I just run into those more often. Plus, it didn't coil up and rattle at me at first. I thought the pattern looked like a Gopher snake, so that's why I go so close to it with my camera.

Then I heard the rattle and thought maybe I should back up a bit.
@Alex (http://www.bogley.com/forum/member.php?u=139) and @BruteForce (http://www.bogley.com/forum/member.php?u=17458) have made great points saying the Gopher snake can even rattle to imitate a Rattlesnake.

What do you think?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zyoZF49Bdg


Here's a shot I was able to get with my phone. What I think is the rattle is in the lower left.

74501

[Scott Card]

Doesn't matter. I would have been out of there, too. At the 16 second mark you can see the tail rattling. Whether I am right or wrong, I would have exited also. :eek2:

[Byron]

That's a rattler, dude.

[Bootboy]

Rattler. Gopher snakes don't rattle to imitate, they hiss to imitate the rattle.

The stark banding on that guy, never mind the RATTLE is a dead giveaway, though they don't always look like that.


LNT

[Sombeech]

Yeah I was way too close with my phone. Probably 18 inches away lol

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Scott Card]

lol

If you were that close, LOL could have meant "latch on leg" if he'd been facing you... :haha:

[Iceaxe]

When I first watched your video I was thinking to myself "this is why young males are the ones who usually get bit by rattlesnakes".

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[oldno7]

Man--ya got to kill them things. I hear they've migrated into Zionz now.:haha:

[accadacca]

Yikes! Run for the hills! :scared:

[Brian in SLC]

Crotalus oreganus lutosus...nice...and, a big 'un!

Common around the Wasatch.

[double moo]

I ran into one a couple of weeks ago that was a chocolate brown color with black markings. I've never seen a rattle snake that dark. He was about 3 and a half feet long and crawled away from us about 10' then turned and slowly came back towards us and coiled up about 4' away. Never rattled at all... if the 2-1/2" of rattle wasn't visible I'm not sure if I'd have thought him a rattler. Tis the season!

[mxerhale]

I ran into one a couple of weeks ago that was a chocolate brown color with black markings. I've never seen a rattle snake that dark. He was about 3 and a half feet long and crawled away from us about 10' then turned and slowly came back towards us and coiled up about 4' away. Never rattled at all... if the 2-1/2" of rattle wasn't visible I'm not sure if I'd have thought him a rattler. Tis the season!

Haven't you guys read the e-mail that was circulating about 2 years ago that we humans have successfully killed off the rattlers that shake their rattles as a warning and now we're left with the ones that don't rattle that lovely little warning at you. Maybe it's actually an internet truth!