Rattlesnake Combat Dance Mating Ritual [Photo & Video]

Photo: Pair of male Northern Pacific (Western) rattlesnakes Pair of male Northern Pacific (Western) rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus oreganus) wrestling in a mating combat dance in Briones Regional Park, Contra Costa County, California — Purchase Prints or License Usage.ID# 180207s_BA3-0093

File Under: I’m not a wildlife photographer… except when I am.

I’m a landscape, outdoor recreation, travel and destination photographer. I don’t consider myself a wildlife photographer any more than I’d call myself a fashion photographer… except when I am; in other words, when an opportunity readily presents itself. I’ve openly stated that I don’t have the patience or the passion to be a dedicated wildlife photographer. However, that doesn’t mean I’d ignore an opportunity when something wanders in front of my camera lens.

Such was the case during a recent hike in my local Briones Regional Park. This is where I go to do my exercise hikes, often without a camera. However, on this particularly warm (nearly record-breaking) February day, I did pack my hiking cameras (A Sony Rx100mIII & A6300) and tripod with the intent of shooting a sunset from a distant ridge. As I was coming across the top of the hill and heading down toward a neighboring Valley, I saw a woman standing alone just at the corner of a trail. I could instantly see some movement in front of her.

To my surprise were these two rattlesnakes engaged in what I first thought to be actual mating. Due to the relatively small size at about 3-feet long each, I assumed they were both relatively young juveniles. But with a closer look, it was easy to see each had quite a number of rattles already well-established on their tail. In doing a little bit of research on the web, I learned that rather than being a male and female in a courtship ritual, these are actually two male Northern Pacific Western rattlesnakes — not to be confused with the western diamondback rattlesnake — doing a combat dance to prove seniority and dominance prior to mating. During this ‘dance’, one male tries to prove that it is larger by reaching higher than the other male and forcing it down onto the ground. Experts believe this is done within sight of a female rattlesnake prior to breeding courtship, although a female does not always need to be evident for this behavior to occur. Eventually, the more dominant snake would win out, and the loser would simply move along.

The woman I met on the trail said she had been watching the snakes for at least five minutes and was a little bit afraid to try and move past them. Typically, when I see a single rattlesnake on the trail, I usually stamp my feet on the ground quite hard in an effort to create vibrations that will encourage it to move along off the trail. These snakes seemed to have no real interest in us bystanders other than an occasional momentary pause and glance in our direction combined with a few extra flicks of their tongue before they resumed the combat dance.

I first used my tiny RX100 to grab some quick snapshots. I then decided pretty quickly that this opportunity was so good and special it warranted me backing off a few feet and digging out the larger Sony A6300 with its 18-105mm Power Zoom lens to try and grab some better photos and even snag some quick video clips. I shot a number of still frames and a few video segments while hand-holding the camera at about knee level looking down at the LCD panel.

Now if I was a ‘real’ wildlife photographer, I would have had a nice long wide aperture lens like a 300mm F4 or perhaps my Nikon 80-400 Zoom and I would have been brave enough to get down on my belly and look through the viewfinder to really work the scene and get as many keeper shots as I could. However, these snakes could move and twist pretty quickly and I wasn’t that committed to getting down on the ground next to a few hissing rattlesnakes. Yes, I know… no ‘real wildlife photographer’ badge for me. But then again, also no rattlesnake bites either. 🙂

Although I didn’t take the time or have the equipment to really work this seen the way a true wildlife photographer would, I was delighted to get these few special shots of what is apparently a fairly rare sight to witness, especially in my local park.

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Gary Crabbe is an award-winning commercial and editorial outdoor travel photographer and author based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. He has seven published books on California to his credit, including “Photographing California; v1-North”, which won the prestigious 2013 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Medal award as Best Regional title. His client and publication credits include the National Geographic Society, the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, TIME, The North Face, Subaru, L.L. Bean, Victoria’s Secret, Sunset Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, and many more. Gary is also a photography instructor and consultant, offering both public and private photo workshops. He also works occasionally a professional freelance Photo Editor.

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