I never knew that rattlesnakes can climb trees............"But in fact they can according to Ecologist P.J. Perea of the the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Lab"..........And the video below proves their climbing prowess----View a "Rattler" a good 50+ feet in the air in the uppermost branches of a tree in southwest Mexico................"While a rarity, and not a usual event for a Rattlesnake to scale such heights, they are opportunistic carnivores, all too happy to snag a fresh clutch of bird eggs or the hatchlings themselves"............."Good to note that while Rattlesnakes are capable of climbing trees and shrubs, it is thought that they are unlikely to climb high block walls".............."While Rattlesnakes are not wall-climbers, harmless non-venomous snakes can and do climb walls and shrubs".........And as we have reported on in previous blog posts, "rattlesnakes are adept at swimming and will take to water readily in order to pursue food, mates and refuge,,,,,,as well as to escape harassment"

CLICK ON EITHER OF THE TWO LINKS TO WATCH A RATTLESNAKE IN THE
SOUTHWESTERN PART OF MEXICO HIGH IN A TREE HUNTING BABY BIRDS
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/national/article217949360.html

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/national/article217953120.html&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTM1NTA4MzE3NzIwODU5NDU1ODkyGmFiYjJjMTUzNmFmNmFkNTM6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNEbG3HKrz1KWYiNObWegAl4uTasDg

‘They’re in the dang trees’: Dancing rattlesnake strikes fear from above, video shows

BY MATTHEW MARTINEZ; 9/6/18

Is there no safe quarter from the seemingly persistent encroach of the slithering, scaly, mean old rattlesnake?

Everywhere you turn this summer, there’s a new snake video to watch.

RATTLESNAKE IN TREE

But, of course, it’s not that we’re being overrun. Human development is colliding over and over again with the habitats of a great multitude of creatures, including snakes, and, we’re doing it while equipped with pocket-sized super-cameras, so you do the math.

RATTLESNAKE CLIMBING TREE

The latest case-in-point was a frightening one for hunting enthusiast Frank Gonzales.

But when he moved closer to the swinging, swaying strand, he came to a startling realization. This was no mere piece of string.

It was a rattlesnake, between 5 and 6 feet long, Gonzalez said — fangs and all, doing some sort of snake dance while coiled around the branches above his head.

RATTLESNAKE HIGH UP IN TREE

“It’s scary enough to have them on the ground,” he told McClatchy. “But now they’re in the dang trees.”

He posted a video of the tree snake to Facebook shortly after getting the heck away from under the rattler. It has been viewed more than 256,000 times and shared more than 5,100 times.

Snake experts say rattlesnakes can climb trees, as Gonzales documented, but that they rarely do it. Ecologist P.J. Perea, of the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, told the Hilton Head Island Packet that it’s odd for a rattler to make its way up into a tree as high as the one Gonzales ran into.

RATTLESNAKES DO IN FACT SWIM

But they’re also “opportunistic” predators, Perea told the newspaper. Maybe they’re up there looking for a nice egg-based or baby bird dinner.

RATTLESNAKES DO NOT CLIMB WALLS, BUT NON-VENONMOUS
SNAKES DO--HERE, A BLACK RAT SNAKE ON HOUSE