Story time: during yesterday's herping adventure Priya only requested we find 2 things: rattlesnakes and toads - Not only was her request granted, but we had no idea how awesomely it would play out... (thread)
We checked a Black-tailed Prairie Dog burrow that I suspected served as a rookery for the resident female Prairie Rattlesnake. We peered down & found she was still hanging out, but no babies yet. We left her undisturbed and searched for Woodhouse's Toads at a nearby reservoir. 
Remarkably, our toad hunt proved fruitless but the sun came back out from behind the clouds and we figured we might get one more look at our momma rattlesnake if she'd come up to bask. We were disappointed that she hadn't moved until we noticed she had company.
Since our earlier visit, a young-of-the-year Woodhouse's Toad had emerged from deeper in the burrow and was perching on top of the rattlesnake. The toad seemed annoyed when the snake shifted her body in response to our presence and he began to lose his footing.
As the snake adjusted herself, the toad comfortably hitched a ride on her sliding coil and we got a better look at him. We marveled at his optimism/naiveté - rattlesnakes occasionally eat toads! However, he seemed content to enjoy the comfort of her sun-warmed body.
While the toad also did not seem to mind Priya and I staring, the rattlesnake was becoming less & less comfortable with the situation & began to slide back, giving a few rattling tail twitches to let us know her patience was exhausted. The toad lost his footing & his comfy seat.
Not wanting to annoy the rattlesnake further as she was near the end of her pregnancy, Priya & I left the pair as the toad seemed to notice that his chair was alive. That, or he was giving her a reproachful look for messing up his spot. We'd like to think they sorted it out (End)
