In the five years that I lived in New Mexico I never encountered any venomous snakes. Then this past winter while we volunteered in rural New Mexico I crossed paths with several rattlers, some big and others, like this annoyed little guy, youngsters.
While smaller the young rattlesnakes can sometimes be a greater danger as older snakes don't always inject venom when they strike humans.
I gathered this one up and put him off in the brush far away from the volunteer RV site so no one else (or our dogs) would have to worry about crossing paths.
So far I've seen only one small (6") rattlesnake here in central Arizona. And with winter cold weather not that far away hopefully that will be the only one for awhile.
