Rattlesnakes and Rainbows

Published: December 5, 2009

Even though we’re taking a short hiatus from construction now that stucco is complete, a lot has happened at the ranch.

On November 13, Steve pushed on the kitchen door in the evening so he could get some fresh air, only to find that it was ‘stuck’ on something. I was right behind him, and when we heard the rattling sound, we both jumped back, knowing what the door had ‘bumped’ against.

A very large rattlesnake (five foot?) was curled up right in front of the screen door. To our surprise, his rattle had gotten stuck under the door, and when Steve pulled it back, the rattle snapped off. Needless to say, the snake was very ticked off. Steve then hung out of the kitchen window taking pictures of the angry fella. We now have his ingeniously engineered rattle in our showcase. But now there’s one desert rattlesnake wandering the ranch that won’t make much noise to alert those near him the next time he’s ticked. (By the way … they usually hibernate beginning in October, but it was in the 100s throughout October, so they were late to go to their hiding holes).

We also experienced our first rainbow behind the house (they’re usually out in front of the mountains).