On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 15:16:07 -0700, DD_BobK wrote:

here's more info

I contacted the author of DD_BobK's reference, Dr. David A. Steen,
who is a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the Department of
Fish and Wildlife Conservation at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

He confirmed it's a rattler and he provided some advice on
relocating it safely. He also asked for more pictures, so
I'll be sending them to him soon as he wants to publish them.

Thanks for the helpful advice!