And at the risk of sounding like a lunatic, I'll add that even some high-strung rattlesnakes that I knew would get very mellow when they were gently "rocked"- I'd put them in a smaller plastic container ("critter cottage" type) & hold them on my lap while I relaxed & swayed in my hammock. They'd calm down & stop rattling, & indicated a whole mood change by their tongue flicks- so how bad can they be?
In case you're wondering, that was one of my ways to show them I meant them no harm. How you act around them & how you treat them matters- so it's clear to me that whether it's another rattler, or some crazy human, they can recognize who they're safe with. At least "most" do- I've known a very few that were super high-strung- but who knows what was in their past? Maybe they had been treated badly by humans they ran into & escaped from in the past, or maybe they just had that sort of temperament- I mean, there's some asocial & wacko creatures in all species, including we humans*- right? (*you only have to watch the news to know that)
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