Identificaciones de yajapin

The bigger individual in the group photos, which I caught first. Didn’t measure it precisely, but quite possibly exceeded 1.5m long.

Embarrassingly, this is the earliest observation of this species which I can upload, since I didn’t get close to/take photos of the ones I saw near central Houston as a child, and didn’t manage to detain the one I saw a few miles away last summer long enough to take photos.

I was surprised to be reminded just how loud their tail-rattle is, even compared to the venomous non-rattlesnake species I’m used to hearing tail-rattle, like the Texan members of Agkistrodon. (Indeed, the one I saw here last year got away precisely because I hesitated to confirm my identification before picking it up, in which time it slipped away into a crevice.)

Glad to have seen these at the literal last minute of the hike!