Run-in with a Rattler!

pict

pict

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Jan 7, 2003
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This past weekend my brother and I took off for a two night stay in Central PA. We did a great deal of off-trail hiking and got into some pretty remote places.

On the second afternoon we arrived in our proposed camp area a little early. I had to fill my water containers and he needed to find a cell phone signal so we split up obviously headed in different directions.

I headed downhil into an area choked with laurel and pine looking for the headwaters of a creek that had to be there according to the topo map. We were camped in a saddle between two peaks. The saddle gradually drained off to the west. I pushed through the laurel and came out into a sunny rock field.

Rock fields in PA often have water flowing underneath them, visible down among the rocks, but it can be inaccessable unless you have a plastic tube and some way to pump it up. Often you can find places where the rocks are low enough and the water breaks the surface. I decided to try to locate some such place.

I walked about 20 feet into the rock field when off to my right about 20 feet away it started up SHHHHHHHHHHHH! No kidding the thing was at least as fat around as my forearm (I lift). This snake was about as big as they get.

My Glock materialized into my hand. It probably took a few weeks off my life. The snake was already headed down for cover and far enough away that he was no harm so I stowed the gun. It wouldn't have been a safe shot anyway, being in a rock field! I don't normally shoot snakes and this one took off like most snakes do. He didn't stop rattling for a good five minutes.

I called my brother on the radio. He later said that my tone of voice told him I wasn't kidding. I did end up searching that rock field, and another before finding water. It took me far longer than I had anticipated because I was checking and double checking every footfall. That's not an easy thing in laurel. I was happy to have seen such a magnificent rattler, and happy we both lived to tell the tale. Mac
 
Pict, I had a run in with one years ago. Bowhunting in Ft Knox, Ky - we were there for 3 days. For a afternoon hunt the first night instead of hanging my stand I was on the ground between 3 large Oaks in a natural little hide. Chipmunks were scampering around everywhere. The noise at my feet as I watched 3 does feed down to me, was a Timber Rattler about 4 feet long. I forgot everything right there and started whacking it with an arrow as I tried to lift both feet off the ground. That ruined me for the rest of the 3 day hunt. I couldn't scout for fear of stepping on one. We saw a total of 10 in those 3 days.
The hunt desk advised they were bad that year. I just didn't realize they would climb right between your feet.

Jim
 
They can be intimidating, no doubt about it. But, you meet enough of them and spend enough time in their yard and you learn how to watch for them like second nature and also learn that they're not the aggressive snake everybody thinks they are. Even coiled, they are easily moved with a stick if there's no other way around them. Now, I've never had one crawl between my legs and honestly can't say how I'd respond if one did. :eek: They usually sense me well before they get that close and they let me know they are there, offering me the opportunity to move so they can be on their way.
 
In my younger days when I went to visit a friend in AZ.we used to catch them for fun and supper.

Go out into desert at night with a four foot pvc pipe with a coat hanger bent into a 'fork"duct taped on the end.Another pipe with a loop of cord running through it.

The fun part was when they did "strike' at you. :D

A coiled snake can only strike one half its length,or thats what we went by anyway.

Every diamondback and sidewinder always wanted to leave,even when we were trying to pin it down.Now the mohave(sp) they would come at you.

think of it as a fun time and neat story.
 
Pict,

First of all, you're lucky to live in a country where you're allowed to see a Glock appear in your hand. Here, in France, I can't even dream about it.

Next, well... Glad you're ok ! I hope you're carrying a venom pump or something. These pumps are life savers, really.

Over here we only have vipers. They're usually not deadly for adults (unless allergic or badly placed bite), but they can get you pretty sick for a few days. They're a concern for me, as I hike a lot. I saw a big one just two days ago... As usual, it raced away from me, but I always take care, especially when climbing, on where I put my hands and face... The females do defend their eggs pretty harshly. They won't go away in those cases. They just stand up to you and let you know you better not trespass... !

Watch your steps, and stay attuned... Being aware of your surroundings does help... for that and many other things.

Cheers,

David
 
Moine,

I normally live in Brazil where carrying a gun is strictly forbidden (unless you are a criminal). I take advantage of my PA carry permit while I'm home this year. The Glock makes a great backpacking gun as it is light weigth and packs plenty of lightweight ammo. A fully loaded Glock 17 with 20 rounds (17 rnd mag w/ +2 floorplate and one in the chamber) of 9mm ammo weighs less than an unloaded 4 inch .357 magnum.

Snakes are easy to deal with. They just want to be left alone. About the only snakes I ever mess with are the ones around our camp facilities down in Brazil. We have lots of city folks who freak out at the sight of any snake. The snakes cause so much commotion that I just kill them whenever anyone spots one wether it is poisonous or not. Mac
 
Pict,

Agreed for the snakes just wanting to be left alone. Every time I see one I just let it room to leave, and I've never had a problem.

I hear some species are a lot more aggressive, though, and will come for you... I wonder if it's true.

Cheers,

David

Edited to add: as for Glock 20s, that's probably what I'd choose to carry as well. 9mm rounds are not too expensive to shoot year round on the line, yet they can be found with pretty high energy packages... Enough to calm down a very big snake, that's for sure :D

Cheers,

David
 
After coming within a half inch of stepping on one out hiking last year, I've found myself a little more aware of how well I can see the path I'm stepping on to.

It's amazing how fast it's possible to move when properly motivated. All I remembered was hearing the buzz, looking down to see the cocked head, and then I was about 10 feet back on the path.
 
What happens when a photographer comes across one in the woods? They become a good prop! :D
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Terrill- That looks like a canebrake Timber. Is that pretty much all you see around your parts? My little brother has been wanting one of them. He had specimens of the three color phases of "standard" Timbers, but the normal and yellow died. He now only has the dark phase, which happens to be the only one he caught himself.

From my meager experience, the most cantankerous rattlers of the eastern US are the Massasaguas. Out west, the pygmies are pretty mean, and I've heard that the Mojaves are more aggressive than average as well. The reputation of the Mojaves might be due to their having an especially nasty bite, though, rather than their actual temperment. Either way, you don't wanna mess with 'em. :eek:

It seems to me that the largest of the rattlers, the Eastern Diamondback is among the more tolerant of them. That would be a good thing if it held true everywhere. The nice thing about rattlers is, even the most disagreeable of them will give you warning. Maybe not enough, but hey- its more courtesy than you'll get from a moccassin or a copper head. :cool:
 
That's the main type for Western NC, but as you head east the rest of the state has the Eastern Diamondback as well. :eek: Of course you can add the copperhead to all of the state and the cottonmouth to the eastern part.
Don't always count on the rattle! :( I have come across a good bit of them and have yet to hear one rattle. My foot landed about 6" from this one and it didn't make a sound.
 
Terill,
Where did you come across that one? I ran up on a few at Crowders Mtn. and around Cane Creek Park, have not seen any in or around Charlotte. Plenty of Copperheads, used to kill lots of them at my parents house when I was a boy before the land across the street got built up.
Patrick
 
Last year I was visiting the Custer Battlefield, had my maps and compass and was walking the entire area. Its well worth doing. Custer got a bad rap for some of that battle. Anyway there were rattlers all over the place. When I eventually went back to the headquarters to review the exhibits, there were two three footers about 25 feet from the front door. I mentioned this, in passing, to the Ranger and about 20 people went outside to crowd around the snakes and gawk. The Ranger just took a stick and moved them off the sidewalk.
 
there are lots of rattle snakes where my friend and I go hiking, but we have not yet run into one. Luckily!!!
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Fortunately in PA you have to go out of the way to find a rattler it seems. I've spent most of my life here in PA and I have only run across two. If you know where to look and want to find them they say it is relatively easy. I avoid snakes because they're icky.

I vastly prefer rattlers to copperheads. The rattle is actually quite polite compared to the way copperheads let you know of their presence... soiled underwear. Mac
 
pict said:
I vastly prefer rattlers to copperheads. The rattle is actually quite polite compared to the way copperheads let you know of their presence... soiled underwear. Mac
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Of all the snakes my brother keeps, the copperheads are the least sedentary. He has three or four subspecies, and the southern coppers seem to be the most alert and the most active. He has a mixed pair of eastern diamondbacks that appear to be quite docile, although I've never been tempted to test that. None of his snakes- not the coppers, the timbers, the easterns or even his water moccassin- are as disagreeable as his pygmy rattler. It is just plain evil. :eek:
 
I fell in a creek once because of a copperhead. I was kneeling at the edge to bend down and take a drink. I leaned out to rest my hand on a rock midstream and there was a copperhead coiled up on it! Of course I pulled my hand back but I was already over-extended so I splashed down right next to him.

Another time I was snorkleing around a lake and decided to cut across rather than continue all the way around. About half way across the lake (150 meters to go) I spot this copperheaded swimming straight for me. I dove down and looked up and he was circling my former position looking for "the rock" he had spotted. Of course when I came up for air again he made a B-line for my head. Back down I went swimming for shore. Each time I came up he would correct course for my head and loose me again when I went under. Of course I'm taking this all very calmly (NOT!).

My USD Rocket fins were pumping as fast as I humanly could to get away from him. At the edge of the lake it gets about 2.5 feet deep so I was literally crawling along the bottom. As I got near the edge he seemed to loose interest in me and was happy to reach the bank again. I was exhausted. Mac
 
Patrick, That one was on my land near Marion, NC. I'll normally run into two or three a year. The copperheads are much more plentiful.
 
Nice looking pics! I ran across a pair of rattlers just a couple of weeks ago. I had heard that they sometimes travel in pairs, and this is the first time that I have seen this.
 
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