Holy Snakes!

[scottmac]

I spoke directly with the gentleman who "dealt" with the snake in question.
He gave the exact account as "guest" related above. At the time, I did not give it much thought. Now I know better. Thanks everyone for the rattlesnake education. Maybe when I see him next (the guy, not the snake, he's a regular on the lower portions of C2C), I can relate some of what I have learned here.

[cynthia23]

Thanks for all these informative posts. Re: ItsPat (great name, btw!) post: of course I'm not advocating not fearing/watching for rattlers! Only putting it in statistical perspective--on our local trails (can't speak for P.V.) there have been, as far as I know, no injuries due to snakes--but many due to seemingly more innocuous things such as tripping, dehydration, and heat exhaustion. These are the real dangers. As far as the comment re: bears, I was only responding to a previous poster who'd said he was as scared by snakes as he was by bears. Comparing the two, I'd say the latter is far more aggressive/dangerous--of course, not that you are more likely to run into a bear! Especially on this mountain, an extremely unlikely event. But ... if I saw that proverbial fork in the trail, and there was a bear down one side, and a rattler down the other, I would most certainly detour down the rattler side.

I think the point I'm making is that excessive fear of snakes leads people to do unintentionally harmful things, such as moving snakes, or trying to kill them. The majority of people are struck because they actually initiate an interaction with the snake.

[Perry]

Arguing with a troll is like ___________.
[Fill in the blank....Hiking Jim?]

[HikeUp]

Arguing with a troll is like ___________.

...kissing a snake?

How's that for on topic?

[Kevin]

It's been my experience you're much more likely to see snakes in the early spring than at other times of the year, and they've just come out of hibernation, are hungry and need to eat, and to raise their body temperature by lying in sunny areas. In about a month it will be too hot during the day for them, and they will become nocturnal, and hunt during the evening. So, for us hiker types, now is the time to be extra vigilant.

[SteveP]

I happened to be cruising up Skyline for the first time last Saturday. Someone yelled from ahead to look out for the rattler. Proceeding carefully, I heard him before I saw him and jumped about 10 feet (pretty far for a 47year old). He was po'd, rattling and hissing. Check out the picture, there appears to be a spot of blood on his back. Perhaps the result of the rock-thrower in a previous post, which might explain his bad attitude.

Because of snow concerns, I only went up 3,500 feet. The old knees don't like having to come down 7,000 feet, if I had to turn around. Skyline trail is now on my must-do list.

http://www.geocities.com/aprice7049/p1010085.jpg

[Perry]

Nice photo! I almost stepped on a baby snake the other night while I was running one of the dyke roads. It didn't move at all, but I took a good look and it was definitely a rattlesnake.

[tomcat_rc]

read somewhere that noone was able to locate a snake today - somebody went so far as to suspect it may be an official "snake free day" - so not to feel at a loss -
I present for your viewing pleasure:

[Rick M]

Nice camo, any "red spots"?

[tomcat_rc]

Nice camo, any "red spots"?

snakes are good for pictures - he was down below the trailhead - observed from the road - so no - noone did any harm to this good size snake. I estimated about 4.5 feet. It was on the way up to hike Chuckwalla-Cross in the southern sierras last weekend - still working on trip report/photos so no posting yet.

On a side note - I have a hearing problem including some frequincies I just cannot hear at all. I am unable to hear shaking rattles even when standing next to one with no background noise. So if you are ever hiking with me - please alert me to the sound if you hear it.

Thanks as always - Tom