My first encounter with a rattlesnake since returning to the desert. This particular one is a very healthy adult Mojave Desert Sidewinder. Or rather "was" ... luckily it was spotted with headlights as I dropped neighbors off at their home. Had it not been seen ahead of time, there was a very high likelihood that someone would have stepped on or near it, as it was right in the middle of the driveway and very near the door of their home. Dangerous encounters such as this are made even far more dangerous at night with low visibility. My neighbors discovered yet another adult Sidewinder in their garden the very next afternoon. Everyone is on "heightened alert" while walking or hiking in the desert, to say the least.