Rattlesnake!

I got out of the car to take a picture of this prairie in Montana and climbed up above a dirt road. Kind of a rock pile and then the prairie floor which is kind of blooming in spring colors right now. It dries all up later. I've been there before and watch where I step as I know there are snakes around but I never see them. I think I've only seen one other snake in that area but it was a big huge one and didn't rattle. It just slinked away.

So I'm by this barbed wire fence and composing my shot, and I take a step back and hear this buzz. I look down and there is this rattlesnake coiling back away from my foot. It had been hanging out on the edge of these rocks. It wasn't a huge snake and probably if you straightened it out it would only be about 3 feet long, but still. It sent a chill up my spine. I figured if there was one snake there, then probably there were a few. So I scampered back down to my car.

In a way it was a cool experience. I thought about going up and trying to get a shot of it, but then I thought no, I've pushed my luck already. In a way it was a beautiful animal, and it didn't sound like they do in the movies, it was more of a fast buzz sound. I might be pulling on my cowboy boots to walk around there in the future.