In early July, 1999, right after the monsoon season rains had begun in Southeast Arizona, Paul's friend Frank, who was living on the land in his 24-foot sailboat (waiting for the tide to come in), had an encounter with a Mojave Green Rattlesnake within 40 feet of the boat.

He got out of the way quickly, needless to say. Of the 17 species of rattlesnake that live in Arizona, the mojave is one of the more dangerous because its venom contains a substance known as "Mojave Toxin", which acts on the nervous system as well as the vascular system.

Frank has since indicated that he has learned that the way to tell a Mojave rattler from an ordinary Diamondback is by counting the number of scales between their eyes. I don't think I want to get that close to one.

In May of 2000 we watched a pickup stop at the northeast corner of the land and observed a woman get out and appear to walk around in the road holding a bag near the ground. We walked over to talk to her and by that time she had finished walking around and was just standing there holding the bag. She said she had caught a diamondback rattler and was going to take it back to her land because she heard that diamondbacks tend to displave mojaves and she had too many mohaves at her place.

August 17, 2000 update: Below we reproduce Beth's account of our first experience with a Mojave.

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Yesterday Paul and I bought a .22 rifle to protect us from whatever dangerous critters we come across. After our experience with the two rattlesnakes on Tuesday, we had decided we really needed to get a gun.

This afternoon we got it out and were setting up for a bit of target shooting so we could learn how to handle the gun. Paul was setting up empty Pepsi cans on a board up against a dirt mound for our target while I carried the rifle in one hand and the bullets in the other over to the two chairs he had set up as our shooting line. I was walking between the utility building and the trailer when I heard a very loud, angry, tell-tale buzz. It was a *large* rattlesnake all curled up, looking at me and rattling his tail. I was about 5 feet away from it when it buzzed! Whew! I yelled something, (probably something not fit to print ), and backed away from the snake. I called Paul over and then grabbed the dogs and put them in the utility building.

We decided to shoot the snake, (that is, after all, why we got the gun), so we loaded the gun and Paul shot the snake in the head. Phew! We left it there for awhile because even when they are dead, snakes can and will turn their heads and bite you. It definitely kept wriggling for a good 45 minutes.

It turned out to be a Mohave Green Rattlesnake, 4 1/2 feet long with 14 rattles. The Mohave is the most dangerous rattlesnake of the 17 species in Arizona because the venom acts on your central nervous system as well as your flesh and fluids. I was EXTREMELY glad that I wasn't any closer to it, and that it warned me away in time. What I found very interesting is that as soon as I backed off, it stopped rattling. I guess what the experts say is true, they will really just warn you off and not strike unless they feel threatened. I, for one, hope to never find out how true that is.

Now I'm very glad we got the gun, and plan to look very carefully before each step I take out here!
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