Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Dead Rattler

A western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox), lying dead along the side of a canyon road in the Black Hills, near the town of Mammoth.  Roughly 5 feet long.  Not sure how it died - the head looked crushed, and a large gash is visible along the middle of its back.  Desert decomposers were already hard at work - flies taking off and landing at regular intervals, and a steady highway of ants busily traversed the spine.

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