As I sat a top of a hill in Douglas County, Washington State, posing for a photo as I read this book, I knew I was in rattlesnake country. I did not know anything more about rattlesnakes than what I had seen in Hollywood movies and old TV Westerns. Now I do. For starters, there are 36 species of rattlesnakes and their habitats are not just in desert country. Rattlesnakes can strike faster than a human can blink an eye. Sometimes, they rattle after they strike and not before. The snake can determine how much venom it will deliver in its bite and sometimes there will be no venom. This is called a dry bite.

I give distance to rattlesnakes, but I truly am amazed by the HD close-up photos of rattlesnakes in this book! Their scaly skin is as bristly as a pine cone at times, not smooth at all. This book is as close to the real thing as I ever hope to be outside of a live snake exhibit. If you are not a snake person, the photos might just make you shiver.