It was taken on the Llano River Ranch. There were three rattlesnakes that we photographed, but it was so cold that morning that it was hard to get the first two to get riled up. They kept trying to escape into the cactus behind them.
The photograph is of the last one, which was larger and more aggressive. We had difficulty getting it to cool up and rattle but it would often strike the tongs when the handler, Mark, who oversees the ranch, would reposition him.
Well one time Mark was moving him over when the snake swung its head back to strike the tongs and it snagged a prickly pear instead.
It's the nature equivalent of a high school student chunking a basketball and making the game winning goal from the opposite end of the court. Lol