This is in response to a Challenge by 
Sam and I took a less than optimal walk Tuesday morning because I am a little gimpy. I believe I have a 'stone bruise' between my first and second toe on my left foot. It hurt like crazy on Monday when I was pretty sure it was either Ebola or Gout. It was just kind of ordinarily painful on Tuesday so we decided to walk.
I carefully warned Sam when we started that he'd better dig and run early and often because I might make it a short walk depending on my foot. He's such a good doggy, he got right with it.
Sam was digging after a squirrel when a flash of motion caught my eye. This little Kangaroo Rat hopped from the trail to the bank. I got really excited because we rarely see them, they are very nocturnal. I ripped out my phone and took a picture. Then I realized why I saw him at all.
The rat died right in front of me, and the sidewinder was waiting patiently for him to do so. I could see by the tracks that the snake had taken his shot just below where he is now, and the rat made it that far. That is a smallish rat and a full sized snake, maybe two feet long.
That sidewinder is in what I would call the 'ready' position. From that posture he can strike, coil or move as his next option. I was there for probably 3 minutes and he just barely moved. His tail was up but not vibrating and it was just obvious that he wasn't going to leave that meal willingly.
That is a fully mature Sidewinder, you can see the nice white string of buttons on his tail. I watched for a couple of minutes and decided that the best option for me was to turn around and collect Sam to keep him from blundering into this tableau.
I'll leave you with one last look at the rat and the snake in natural light. The sun had been up about 20 minutes but in the shade of the bank they were both difficult to see.
This is the end of this #Wednesday Walk. It was definitely more memorable than most of our walks...
All Words and Photographs in this post are mine, for better or worse.
You want some really cool stuff? Check these authors, they will not disappoint.
