Although Bane (adult male Arizona black rattlesnake) didn’t enter our radio-telemetry study until 5 August 2012, we first met him during last year’s Spring Snake Count. I had led a group of Snake Counters to Secret Springs, a warm-spring-fed pond that was formerly a cattle tank. One of the Snake Counters encountered Bane on the far side of the pond, where he was drinking.
Bane, 20 May 2012
Since we began tracking Bane with radio-telemetry in August, he has not returned to Secret Springs. He spent most of this spring near the Nature Trail, making him the perfect snake to track with preserve visitors. Anyone who wanted to track a rattlesnake this spring April has met Bane.
Save the Frogs Day attendees checking out Bane, 27 April 2013.
Snake Count weekend was no different. We visited Bane two or three times with Snake Counters, who got to meet Muleshoe’s largest Arizona black rattlesnake. As usual, he was just off the Nature Trail on Friday and Saturday. Sunday afternoon (19 May), Bane’s signal was erratic, as if he was moving. And he was. He had crossed Hot Springs Wash and was cruising alongside the Nature Trail toward Secret Springs!
It’s May in Arizona, which means it’s hot and dry. Guess Bane is thirsty again 🙂
Rattlesnake Research at Muleshoe Ranch 