Ahhh Crap!

The prairie rattlesnake is an interesting creature. We have a few of them out at work. Normally I do my best to avoid them. I figure if they leave me alone, I'm OK with that. However sometimes they get in my way. So they have to die.
This guy got in the way today. BTW he's got 10 buttons on his tail, which means he's a good sized snake for his sub species. After I thought I killed him off, I measured him.

Yep, he came in at 38 inches, which is a pretty good sized snake. Right now 38 inches is the record snake kill so far this year, at least with the guys I work with.

After I shot these pics for the blog, and for the guys at work, I got one last little surprise. I was using my shovel to cut his tail off for a trophy. He decided to rally round for one last stand, and he tried for a strike. Which he almost made. Do you know those professional grade shovels that are supposed to be unbreakable? I broke one smacking him a second time on the head.
If you go back and look at the second picture from the top you'll see where I had dropped my shovel when I was taking pictures. Had he revived a little earlier and struck when I reached for the shovel, this afternoon might have included a trip to the ER for me. Alls well that ends well.