Photo by Karine Aigner kaigner / If I ever had a pet rattlesnake, I’d want it to be this individual. We met on a morning run in epic fashion—the snake magnificently spread perpendicular across a dirt ranch road. I approached slowly, admiring its intricacies and assessing its demeanor. It lay unperturbed as it watched me come near—and allowed me five minutes of cell phone snaps—without a single rattle warning. I went on my way, returning to the same area an hour later. The snake was still there, now actively canvassing the bushes—back and forth, round and round. For 45 minutes I followed and photographed. It seemed to be searching. I sat on the ground and watched as it gracefully maneuvered through prickly pear, bush-tongue tasting the air. As it finally crossed behind my truck, back over the road, I finally saw it, and realized what I was watching. Like an arrow to a bull's-eye, the snake headed straight toward a cottontail rabbit that lay paralyzed in the scrub. Already familiar wit...