Few things immortalize the Wild West more than cowboys, cow drives, and rattlesnakes. But while cowboys still enjoy popularity in rodeos and cigarette advertisements, and cows have become popular worldwide, rattlesnakes have been well, they’ve been chopped in half with shovels.
Snakes have had a bad reputation in western cultures since Genesis. Thanks to science, we’re starting to realize that snakes aren’t really mindless muscles that slither around with hypnotizing eyes, skin-piercing fangs, and the evil intent of ambushing a picnicking family. Still, Katie Colbert, the Rattlesnake Lady, would advise you to watch where you set your cooler.
Click photo to enlarge
On Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m., Katie Colbert will present a slideshow on America’s most misunderstood and unappreciated reptile at the Ukiah Civic Center. Colbert is a wildlife biologist with the Sunol-Ohlone Wilderness Region of the East Bay Regional Parks. The event, sponsored by Peregrine Audubon Society, is free to the public, though donations are happily accepted.
