Timber Rattler Hike!!!

beanbag

beanbag

Joined
Apr 1, 2009
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I took some days off work last week to go hiking. On Friday my wife, dog and I went to the S.W. part of Harriman State Park in New York, about 50 miles north of NYC. We did a 4.5 hour hike up to Pine Meadow Lake and back.
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On the way back, we made our way down along a rock strewn river bed and crossed this bridge.
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About five minutes later while my dog was walking 10 yards in front of me on very rocky loose section of trail, I heard it. A rattlesnake. It was the third time I've heard that sound, and there ain't no mistaking it. It stops you in your tracks, or at least it's supposed to. It seemed louder than I remembered it/thought it would be. I saw it almost immediately and called out to my dog "no, Skipper, no." I think the snake was rattling at my dog because he was first down the trail. Skip ran off, and I'm not even sure if he ever even saw. I was about 10 yards back, so my first concern was for the dog. It seemed like he was right on top of the snake, but thinking back on it, now I'm not sure. . The snake was huge, I think at least five feet. I called out again to my wife "rattler!" She nervously made her way down to me. We kept our distance and I took the pictures below. That snake wanted absolutely nothing to do with us and eventually slithered away. All in all a great hike, close to home, with a really exhilarating wild life encounter.
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We rescued Skip, and we are pretty sure he's a pure-bread Mutt!

Seriously, he is predominantly Wheaten Terrier and Yellow Lab, but since his tongue has some purple, some people think he may have some Chow in him. what ever he is, he awesome. Thanks for asking.
 
I am frightened by rattle snakes. No other snakes, but rattlesnakes freak me out for some reason.

Cool pics, though.
 
Dude, I was there saturday morning with my g/f. We hiked it to the "lemon squeezer," which is on a section of the Appalachian Trail, we then continued to the summit of Hogencamp mountain, we took some pics as well. But no snakes :(

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I have come across about 4 rattlers either hunting, hiking, or 4x4ing. Since I almost stepped on the one while hunting,I was way too close for comfort, so I blew his head off. My buddy said shoot, and I did. I felt if I moved he would have struck. If I could have back peddled away, I would have. I generally give them room, and want to let them live. Cool photos.
 
Man, nice snake pics! Cool and scary at the same time. Thanks for sharing.
 
Nice looking Timber.

I ran into these last weekend on the AT. The first snake was during a 5-mile night hike to camp. I was going out with my friend and uncle. It was dark and my uncle, last in line yelled snake. Seems both of us nearly tampled the snake in the dark.

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We backed up to the farthest edge of the trail and let the snake pass along side and across.

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The Timber didn't rattle at first despite our foot falls being very near. For the life of me I couldn't see it with my headlamp. Once we stopped it rattled off trail into the night. Goes without saying our headlamps were turned on high and made slow progress towards the primative camp site. If the snake wanted to bite me or anyone else it sure could have but aggression doesn't appear to be in the Timber's nature. Also it sounds more dramatic than the encounter actually was. Guessing in the dark most things appear more dangerous.

Here is our camp.

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We hiked out and found yet another Timber maybe a few miles from the first.


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I do wish they gave more of a warning sooner as that aspect made for a spooky night hike. Took this of the group about 20 minutes after the night-o-timber encounter.

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TheGame said:
I am frightened by rattle snakes. No other snakes, but rattlesnakes freak me out for some reason.

Cool pics, though.
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Im with you,,I see them often in my area . What worrys me most is they never seem to be in a hurry to get out of the way. Most other snakes take off in a hurry. Im always afraid my dog will tangle with one.

beanbag, thanks for those pics, very nice!
 
the lone gunman said:
Im with you,,I see them often in my area . What worrys me most is they never seem to be in a hurry to get out of the way. Most other snakes take off in a hurry. Im always afraid my dog will tangle with one.
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Your right. After the rattle and I got my dog out of there, the snake just hung around for quite a while barely moving. It still hadn't moved by the time my wife made it down to us, and when it finally did, it was really slow. Earlier in the hike we saw another large unidentified all-black snake that took off quickly when it became aware of us. At first my dog went right after it until I yelled for him to stop.
 
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the eastern diamondback is americas most venomous snake followed by the western diamondback. if we run into them & they are'nt close to where we're sleeping we let them be.growing up in west texas we were well acquinted with our snakes. actually water mossicans give me more apprehension since they can actually come at you. most snakes if left alone will go off.the diamondbacks can reach 8 feet in length. i have a pic of one about 10 feet . when inquired of the Texas Parks & wildlife if this was a record, they replied no. dennis
 
Awesome photos. I hear we have the timbers here too. I hear people mention seeing them now and then but I haven't actually seen a rattle snake here since I was a kid. Copperheads and Cottonmouths I see now and then but no rattlers in a long time.
 
Don Rearic said:
I thought the Mojave earned that title because of the hybrid hemotoxic and neurotoxic venom it has.
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I think even the Timber could have a bit more toxic venom than the Eastern Diamond Back too but sometimes snakes can be different even within populations of the same kind. Also quantity counts when it come to venom and a full grown Eastern Diamond Back has a bunch. All that being said I am no expert so could be wrong. But wouldn't want to be hit by any of them.
 
Man, rattlesnakes are so polite. They warn you, then just leave quietly. A watermoccasin would not have warned you, and if you missed out on getting a suprise bite, he'd have chased your butt to your car.
 
Fiddleback said:
Man, rattlesnakes are so polite. They warn you, then just leave quietly. A watermoccasin would not have warned you, and if you missed out on getting a suprise bite, he'd have chased your butt to your car.
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Lol. This particular Rattler was indeed very polite. But I don't know if they all are.

The first rattler I ever encountered was about 20 years ago on a all day hike from Tuolumne Meadows down to Yosemite Valley. My buddy was ahead of me, and when he came around a bend in the trail, a rattler struck him on the boot with no warning then held its ground for quite a while.

In my second rattler encounter the snake also struck out. Again, I was in Harriman State Park about 10 miles from where I took the pictures. This time I was cruising down a dirt road on my mountain bike. I saw what I thought was a branch in the middle of the road, but when I got about 10-15 yards away, the snake struck out. I was able to safely stop. The snake slithered off the road and only then rattled.

Polite or no, getting hit by one of these things would be a real bummer.
 
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