SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  RATTLESNAKE   Crotalus viridis helleri   "It had 13 rattlers and a button!" - That's the proud kind of bragging I occasionally hear from excited rednecks who like to brag about the last rattlesnake they've killed, skinned, and used to adorn their wide-brimmed hats.  This specimen had a particularly nice string of rattles.  When it lined up like this as I was admiring it, I got pretty excited too, but it was my shutter finger, not my trigger finger that was twitching!  The snake's tongue momentarily stuck to its rattle several times as I clicked, but was spread perfectly for this shot.