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So I was out hiking in Deem Hills this morning and saw a couple of ladies avoiding the trail for a bit. They were just getting back on the trail when I reached them and they mentioned there was a rattlesnake eating a bird.

Sure enough, there was a small Diamond Back, maybe 30", that had killed a dove and was trying to swallow it. The snake only had the head in its mouth. I imagine it was a bit distracted from me and the ladies and everyone else that would be walking by. I'll be curious if it managed to eat the bird or if it was too stressed from the location and left it.

Unfortunately, I left my phone at home so no pictures.

That was the first time I've encountered a rattlesnake feeding. Anybody else?

Almost all of the ones that @gummo sees are are there for the food. I don't think he feeds them birds though.

rcorfman wrote:Unfortunately, I left my phone at home so no pictures

A hike without a camera?
Don't let Tibber hear about this!

I once saw a group of diamondbacks devour some Yankees a few years back. On a side note doves are not God's most gifted creatures.

I've taken pics of a rattlesnake eating a mouse and a lizard. https://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=593828 https://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=282472

The one I stepped on in the wash on the Terrapin Trail in the Superstitions thankfully had a bird in its mouth. I actually didn't step on it, I jumped on it...

I jumped off a rocky ledge into the sandy wash and it was stretched out and had a bird in its mouth. It jumped into a pool of stagnant water and spit the bird out.

The entire time I watched it it had a huge feather sticking out of the corner of its mouth. It was trembling.