One day a scorpion almost got me. The next day I got a rattle snake!  Then the question, what am I going to do with it?  I was on my way to watch and photograph the sunset as I drove on Maxwell Scenic Drive in Big Bend National Park, Tex., back towards my campsite at Abaja Terlingua along the creek.  I was hoping for nature to put on a show as I drove through the desert.  My stomach was full from the delicious Mexican Plate (their name for a TexMex enchilada extravaganza) and several A.C.Bs I had at a great little restaurant outside the west gate in Study Butte.
    I saw something that appeared to be a long stick on the road, but as I got out of my car for a closer look it started to move. That was no stick. It was a very long snake and not just any snake; it was a Texas Diamond Back Rattle Snake. I took several photos and got out of the way because a car was coming. I’m not sure whether the driver saw the snake and ran over it on purpose or didn’t see it. The car didn’t stop for questions.  The snake took the hit, but was still alive, though, and had coiled into striking position. I knew to keep my distance. My 180mm close-up lens gave me great photos from far enough away.  I decided to get it off the road and found a long Century Plant flower stem about ten feet long, the kind that make good walking sticks, and used it to push the snake off the road.  As I did, it ended up on its back and lay motionless. My attention turned to the sunset and I needed to drive to the top of the bluff, mesa, butte (does anyone know the difference, if so let me know!?!) or how about hill?
    When there I selected my cameras, lenses, and tripod and started to look for a good spot from where I could see the panorama in all directions since I was at a high vantage point at Sotol Vista.  My mind returned to the snake and especially those 11 rattles.  What a prize to display on my necklace or hat.  Nature’s display was at least a half hour away. That was time enough to return to the snake. If it was still on its back it would have no use for the rattles and they would be mine.
    On its back it was, so not only were the rattles mine, but why not take the whole snake?  I’ve always wondered what rattlesnake tasted like.  I could dry the skin and display it with my photos at home, in addition to showing off the rattles, so I bagged the snake and into the ice chest it went.  Did I know how to eviscerate, skin and dry it, or cook a snake?  No.  I’d cleaned a lot of fish, seen lots of animals slaughtered for food, remembered a little from my biology and food science classes, and this was the desert where the sun was hot enough in the afternoon to fry an egg on any rock, so I could figure it out. That was tomorrow’s project, now it was back to the sunset and what an exhibit of color it was.
    The sky was changing and blending from blue to yellows, oranges, and reds in many variations as I gazed from west to north to east to south. A 360º sunset and a snake to challenge my tomorrow.
    The next day was indeed a challenge.  After my morning walk and brunch I gathered my implements of destruction together, got my bag of snake, and headed for the creek where there would be copious amounts of water to do this operation.  I found a pool of water to rinse away the discards, a rock ledge to use as a working surface, and my pair of scissors and steak knife worked nicely to do the deed.  The scissors cut better than the knife, so I used them to cut an incision the length of the snake’s belly.  I separated the skin from the meat with my fingers (like fisking a food animal) from head to rattles.  Cut the meat and skeleton from the skin leaving the head and rattles attached to the skin, then gently pulled the entrails from the underside of the meat and cut them from the head just like cleaning a fish, being careful not to puncture them.  I’m sure there’s some special aphrodisiac or other value and that guy on the Food Channel would’ve eaten some of the innards probably raw, but I fed them to the fish that had been nibbling my toes as I stood in the pool.  Later as I boiled the snake meat, I stretched the skin on a rubber mat to dry it.  It measured 46”!  It dried quickly. As for the taste, there really wasn’t any. It was rather bland. Maybe if I could’ve made an open fire (Park Rules say no), grilling it would’ve been tastier. Maybe next time!
    Who knows, I may get another chance as I meander through this great country’s warm places in the winter from Florida to Arizona and lots of good times in between. Here in Ocean City if you’d like me to photograph you and yours on the beach give me a call at 410-289-7339 or check out my web site at PHOTOSAsYouWantThem.biz and look at more of my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/o.c.fotoguy2009.