So glad I don't live where you live. Good thing you have a dog.

That would have definitely freaked me out. I saw way too many rattlesnakes when I was a kid and remembering my father having to kill one that was on the elderly lady's porch who lived next door to us.

Those things scare me! We've had a few in our yard over the years. My neighbor's two dogs were both bitten by the same snake a few years ago. They had both been trained in rattlesnake avoidance prior to being bitten. Thankfully they both survived.

including the two dogs we have now, we have had 8 dogs during that time. The three lived through it. I only took the puppy to the vet. They all had wounds the hair never grew back in. 4 folks in the neighborhood have been bitten, and they all lived, though one got a lot of anti-venom and was hospitalized a while.

(edit: that didn't read right, the two dogs we have now haven't been bitten, they just bring the count of our 4 legged friends up to 8.)

The Moccasins are mean SOBs and will come for you.
My brother was clearing brush for the highway department. He ran across a a Copperhead in a ditch. It was on the other end, but it wasn't scared in the least. He came after my brother who had to fight him off with his machete.

We used to how fishing in my Grandmama's pond and used an old boat that was kept there for that purpose. Some days Cottonmouths would try to get in the boat. They have really nasty bites.

Have to keep an eye out for those when you're in their environment.

was crossing the road. I came so close to that snake that I jerked up my leg up afraid I would hit it and it would strike my leg.

Another incident - my wife and I were playing golf in SC. She hit into a bunker, went in and hit her ball onto the green. As we grabbed our putters and began to walk onto the green, a Diamondback slithered out of that same bunker right toward the flag. It was lying lengthwise under the grass surrounding the bunker. It was never aggressive - just slithered to the flag and laid there.

we have one that migrates through our yard each year. He has 13 rattles and we all stare in wonder from the safety of our house.
Glad he wanted out, btw. I don't really think that they want to be around us any more than we want to be around them.

We haven't been able to teach them to close the door. The new dog has been the first to learn how to open the door to get out. We prop a stick against the door at night to keep him in.

what kind of rattlesnake?

Some times they will have a green tint to them, but the one last night was dark.

theres just one sort, give or take (as I understood it) from the valley north.
The diversity of species and habitat niches going south gets interesting.
Surely, rattlesnakes are among the most interesting of North American herptiles.
Just dont tread on em!

I used to see a lot of them in my little farm town in California. I always left them be, unless they were near people's houses.

they are all a serious hazard down there.

That's the seventh time this spring I've seen one. Only one of the others sounded off.