Dear Reader,
I've always loved rattlesnakes. As a child growing up in Oregon, I was scared of them, but also in awe of their distinctive power and beauty. We were all well schooled in how to walk the scraggly brush and boulder hillsides along the Deschutes River, where my grandfather had a cabin. You took a big stick, and pounded the ground ahead of you, to give the rattlesnakes a chance to scoot off or warn you they were there. And if they were, we learned, you don't run. You back away slowly and silently. When a rattlesnake ventured onto the porch, the men were commandeered to pin its head with a Y-shaped stick, and cut it off. Then we skinned the snake and cooked it (yes, tastes like flavorless chicken), and made jewelry from the vertebrae. A few months ago, I was hanging out in the crook of a tree, meditating. After about 20 minutes, I stepped down and reached for my keys, on the ground before me. Rattle! I froze, my hand stretched out, my body bent over. Slowly, I moved only my eyes, searching. The rattlesnake was about 10 inches from my hand, blended with the grasses and coiled loosely right next to my keys and hat. Its head was lifted, its eyes staring straight at me, its tail lifted and rattling. I didn't move for a few seconds. Then, slowly, I drew my hand back, and sunk my body back into the crook of the tree. I calculated. I was close enough to strike, if the rattlesnake was upset. But the snake stopped rattling, and watched me. I meditated, figuring I couldn't really go anywhere until she left -- behind me was a steep drop into thickets of stickery brush, and any movement in the other three directions left me open and in striking distance. I averted my gaze, silently told the snake how beautiful she was, and waited. I never heard her glide soundlessly away. All these years, I've had no idea how the rattlesnake rattles. Until Deep Look photographer Josh Cassidy showed me the inside of a rattle, which you'll see in this week's video. | | |
Kat Snow
Senior Editor, Science
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| | | A rattlesnake's rattle isn't like a maraca, with little bits shaking around inside. So how exactly does it make that sound? | | |
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| | | Natural gas appliances are a big target in the fight against global warming. Buildings, through heating and cooking, use almost a third of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. | | |
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| | | The battle for California's carbon-free future might one day come to your kitchen stove, but right now it's at the state Public Utilities Commission, where Southern California Gas is fighting for its business -- and a watchdog says the utility's not fighting fairly. | | |
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| | | Self-driving cars will be part of ridesharing fleets, reducing the number of personal vehicles on the road and helping wean motorists off gasoline. | | |
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| | | The annual PPIC poll on the environment showed 71 percent of California adults are very concerned about climate change making wildfires worse. The heavy rainy season, however, seemed to wash away fears about drought. | | |
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| | | Legislation would also make it harder to sue to stop logging on federal lands as part of effort senators say will reduce risk of catastrophic wildland blazes. | | |
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| | | A branch of the USDA has agreed to stop killing California beavers, at least temporarily, in thousands of miles of river habitat, after an environmental group threatened to sue. | | |
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| | | The mother, Victoria, is one of six southern white rhinos that could become surrogate moms for critically endangered northern white rhinos. | | |
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| FUNDING FOR KQED SCIENCE IS PROVIDED BY: The National Science Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED. | | | | KQED 2601 Mariposa St. San Francisco, CA 94110
Copyright © August 2, 2019 KQED. All Rights Reserved. |
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