Strolling by a diamond back on beautiful spring day

I was a few steps ahead of Patti walking that mid-May evening on a trail in the newly opened Sweetwater Wetlands Park. My nose in the air, I was looking for a nearby white-eyed vireo that was caroling loudly and persistently from the low trees.

Suddenly Patti said "You better stop and look at what you just walked by."

I stopped, turned and looked down. About 10 feet behind me, lying unperturbed by my passing and our presence, half its 30" body length on the path, was a beautiful juvenile eastern diamond-back rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus.

Stretched fully out and except for its flickering tongue and lying absolutely motionless, the little snake had just left the woodland and begun crossing the trail. With other folks approaching, we decided it would probably be best to move the little snake out of sight.

Picking up a slender stick I slid it beneath the snake and moved him to the side of the path. Within seconds he had completed the effort and moved quietly and completely from view.

We happily bade it adieu.

Fully on the walkway, it had decided to return to the safety of the vegetation. Whoops! I had walked right by this pretty youngster.

Author, photographer, and columnist Richard Bartlett is one of the most prolific writers on herpetological subjects in the 20th century. With hundreds of books and articles to their credit, Richard and his wife Pat have spent over four decades documenting reptiles both in the field and in captivity. For a list of their current titles, please visit their page in our bookstore.