Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Yesterday's excitement at our Sunday get-together was the casual appearance of this little guy, who was sauntering across the lawn to get in on the action:

Read more about the Western Rattlesnake here

Luckily Mike saw the snake first, and cornered him with a stick. Otherwise I'm pretty sure Pea, the world's greatest animal lover, would have picked it up to play with.

When not wrestling dangerous reptiles,
Mike is an award-winning architect

I handed the camera to Laurel and went to call the neighborhood snake expert. Laurel is a better photographer than I am anyway.

Two rattles indicate that
the snake is probably two years old,
since they add a rattle each time they shed

15-year-old Taylor and his dad showed up with a shovel, but it was such a cute little snake that it seemed a shame to whack it's head off (the usual procedure in rattlesnake country).

You really need to
click for big on this photo--
the tongue is amazing

We were not sure what to do with it. Our first thought was to take it up into the foothills and release it. Then we thought, what if it's our fault that a hiker gets bitten? Taylor's dad, an attorney, opted for euthanasia. They took it to their house, put it in a plastic container, and stuck it in their freezer. When I saw it later it was rock hard, but probably not dead.

The wedge-shaped head is
one of the indicators of a venemous snake.
Sorry he wouldn't hold still for the photo

They plan to give it to one of the dad's clients who is a taxidermist. We may see our snake in a taxidermy display at Cabela's some time.