While teaching a class on coexisting with snakes recently, I found myself reminding students that animals are unpredictable. Learning about snakes and what they generally do and like is helpful, but each individual has a history, personality, and their own ideas about what they need and want. So they continue to surprise us, which makes encountering snakes so much fun!
When we encountered this Rock Rattlesnake a few weeks ago, we were aiming for a unique shot, but ended up with something completely unexpected and difficult to explain. Many are convinced she was seeking warmth, but this was an exceptionally warm and sunny September day, so to those of us who were present, this seems unlikely. We have gotten pretty comfortable with not being able to interpret everything we see snakes do, and like I said, even enjoy it! We hope you enjoy watching the video as much as we did filming it.