Rattlesnakes at Your Feet

Brattstrom, Bayard H.

bayard@hughes.net Horned Lizard Ranch, P. O. Box 166 Wikieup, AZ 85360 USA

On October 18-19 (20l8), at the Rattlesnake Mini-symposium and Rattlesnakes of Arizona Book Signing, Chiricahua Desert Museum (www.geronimoevent.com), I pointed out that biologists are always looking down at rattlesnakes. I gave a homework assignment to the audience. It was this: Try to see the world as a rattlesnake sees it. I told them to lie down on the ground, put their eyes as close to the ground as possible, like a rattlesnake, and lie there for 20 minutes to “think” and "see" and “feel” like a rattlesnake. Then, come up with new ideas, hypotheses, and perspectives about rattlesnakes that we have not previously thought about. I will see how many did their homework, what ideas were generated, and present some of my own results regarding this “field experience” homework assignment.