is a snake which invokes both fear and disgust in many. All it takes to make your average person flee is a quick glance at the rattle or the dry buzzing warning.
The rattle of the sidewinder; those who hear it will never forget it. Imagine you’re wandering down a desert gulley, the heat is oppressive, the sun glaring in the sky, and the air smells of baked dust. As you step over the sage brush, in front of you a harsh buzz fills the air, and you know even before putting your foot down, that you’ve disturbed a rattlesnake. For some, this is a reason to avoid hiking in the desert, for a few others, this is the moment of triumph.
The sidewinder is not as dangerous as many think. While it is venomous, and highly so, it is not very fast. If you see a sidewinder from a distance, you have nothing to worry about. It’s not going to catch up to you. They are also, generally, a ground dwelling species. Because of their unique form of locomotion, you won’t find them up in trees. Why is it we fear the rattlesnake? Does it hearken back to some primordial time when, living in caves, we were unable to easily avoid the snakes?
I’ve always felt that snakes on the whole are misunderstood; they do so much for us in terms of pest control. While the average rattlesnake may seem horrible and dangerous, just realize that they do quite a bit in terms of keeping down rodent populations. When you finally get up close to one of these creatures, you realize that in their own right, they are beautiful. The eye of a Sidewinder seems to be flecked with gold, and reflects the light almost as though it were a jewel. Watching a sidewinder move, the delicate S-curve its’ body makes as it glides over the sand, is almost poetry in motion. Every time I see one of these snakes in its natural environment, I wonder to myself why we’re so bent on destroying something which although deadly, can also be beautiful.