A coiled, tongue-flicking rattlesnake

Coiled rattlesnake throwing its forked tongue

Rattlesnake's split tongue

I've run into quite a few rattlers in the Reno-Tahoe area, mostly at lower elevation in the non-forested brush landscape. Always, I had been warned by the distinctive rattle buzz, before I saw the reptile body. Recently I had a near miss. I came close to a coiled rattlesnake that was hiding behind a low bush on Halo Trail west of Keystone Canyon in the Peavine foothills north of Reno. She (or was it a he?) warned me just in time. Maybe she was as surprised as I was. Maybe he was at high alert since mountain bikers were speeding past her trailside hangout a few minutes earlier.

When I heard that one-of-a-kind rattling—about four feet away—I froze and immediately stepped backwards. I continued to slowly move backwards without turning around, so I could watch. The rattler undulated a short distance away from the trail; then coiled up again. This was when I took pictures like the one above—keeping a safe distance. She started rattling in intervals and kept flicking the forked tongue in and out. Saliva was dripping. I remember being told once that rattlesnakes were believed to lick their prey all over to facilitate swallowing it, but this now being considered a myth. Certain rattlesnake behavior may be shrouded in myth. But rattlesnakes are real—from tongue to tail.   

Rattlesnake's rattle