Today's Random Photo- Rattlesnake!!

Believe it or not, this is an injured rattlesnake that was brought in to my work- and our widlife doctor actually fixed it up! We think it was maybe hit by a motorcycle, causing the big gash in the side of it's head (next to the handler's right hand). The technician and doctor carefully sedated it and sutured it up. Neither of them had ever worked on a rattlesnake before, and they were both rather nervous- as was the handler who had the job of holding it's head while being sewn up. Despite the tension, everything went well and the snake was released back out into the wild. Here are a couple more photos from that day. As this story illustrates, I often come home with fascinating stories for my family- usually regarding wildlife that we've treated. We'll treat just about anything that comes in our door, except skunks. And I'm not sure about Prairie dogs (since they can possibly carry the plague). I've seen hawks, owls, bats (only dead ones), raccoons, foxes, a coyote, even an eagle. Very cool. By the way, the handler that brought us this snake runs an outfit called "Snake Wranglers". He loves snakes and will rescue thems whenever called.