[Dusty Road]

Maybe I failed to mention I've also been handling rattlers at the local roundup's for close to 30 years and have been catching and selling them beyond that. We also have Mojaves here in the Western part of Texas where I live but the Diamondbacks rule the roost. I've been bitten 4 times over all these years and the Mojave from the Big bend area was the least damaging. A big Diamondback does allot of tissue damage unlike the Mohave which also has a neurotoxin.

[Ditter]

Yikes you have been bitten 4 times and survived! I am glad you are still here.

You are the perfect person to ask this question. I was hunting with MrD. I got down from the tree I was sitting in to walk back to camp. I surprised a rattlesnake coming down the path toward me. He was a small snake, not much over 3 feet. I heard him rattle, buzz was more like it.

Then he jumped up on his tail and started wiggling around. He was totally upright with his tail bouncing around on the ground.
He continued this action until I started shooting.

I know this happens because I have seen an old painting, either Russel or Remington that pictured snakes doing this during some kind of Indian ceremony, but I have never talked to a person who has seen it.