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Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:43 pm
by outwhere
Seems like there are lots of tough hikers on this board, so snakes probably don't even blip your radar... wish I could feel the same.

It got so bad, there were long, long months that I would not hike strictly for fear of running into a snake. Please don't laugh too hard :P :lol:

Now I love the beauty of snakes but almost any kind of contact with them in [surprise surprise] nature, and look out... :shock: :shock: :roll: We won't go into what happens if i hear a rattle, especially in chapparal, it aint pretty.

So any of you got any good snake stories to share...?

If you frighten the hell out of me even more, that's ok [isn't that shock therapy? :P ] or maybe there will be a curing story :o

* I've only 'run into' two snakes in all my hikes [a baby rattler near Inspiration Point] and a king?? snake smack dab on the east fork trail, on a warm, late December day. The east fork one stretched across the trail, looked sorta stiff, wouldn't budge, still alive ??... think I was the only 1, that wouldn't jump over it :P :lol: :roll:

Just found this, well said + feeling the fire road idea, at least i know i'm not totally alone :o

http://www.modernhiker.com/2009/01/30/s ... by-snakes/

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Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 7:11 pm
by EnFuego
Nice request. I was bit by a rattlesnake once. And it appears I lived to tell you about it. :lol:

Well, lets see, it was a beautiful fall day in September sometime, 1987. Ah screw it, I can't glorify it.

Anyway, I was fly fishing along the East Fork San Gabriel river with my pops. I was 17 at the time. We were about a mile or so upstream from Camp Williams (this was before all that area was private property). As I was walking around the stream, I saw a blur out of the corner of my eye and when I looked in that direction, I saw a pretty decent size diamond back, maybe 4 feet long or so, and pretty thick. I mean this was a healthy sucker.

So, in all my wisdom, I thought it might be a good idea to catch the lil fella and gently toss his slithery a$$ over to the otherside of the creek. I figured it would be out of the way, and would not bite me while I'm fishing.

So, in proper "San-Gabriel-larger-than-hell-diamond-back-fear-of-getting-bit-by-this-python-size-rattler" technique, I grabbed him by the head, hoisted him to eye level, had a brief conversation with him about proper river etiquette, and then prepared to toss him across the river.

I glanced over my grip, assured myself everything was fine and dandy, lowered my arm and pulled it back in an underhand fashion. Everything was going fine, my arm was loaded under the weight of this hefty legless reptile. I started to motion my arm forward in “oh-so-perfect” form, released the snake at a proper angle and trajectory to safely land on the other side of the creek. I followed through with true form, gazed at the flying serpent for a second or two and smiled as he gently floated to the ground on the other side and slithered happily under a rock.

In an instant, my brain started wheeling, my eyes bulged out of there socket and I started yelling profanities, as I quickly realized a small sting in my right hand. Without looking, I knew instantly what had happened. My gaze was still across the river and I swear, that f#$king little legless lizard slithered out of his rock and was staring at me, flicking his red forked tongue at me. Come to think of it, the little bastard was licking his lips.

I quickly looked down at my hand and noticed a very small scratch on top of my forefinger between the first and second knuckle. The little fella decided to leave me with a small token of his appreciation for throwing him across the river and probably separating him from his wife and eight kids. My dad was about 50 yards downstream and I told him what happened. He didn’t believe me. I repeated myself a second and third time until he, in all his great wisdom, told me to just suck it out then. Well, I did. Big mistake. I had a cavity (yes, 17 year olds can get cavities) and then venom went straight into my nervous system. Within 15 to 30 seconds, I felt my tongue swelling and I felt my eyes start to twitch. I explained all this to my dad, and we double timed it out of there.

OK, sorry guys this is so long. So to make this novel short, we quickly reached his truck and started to haul a$$ out of there. Well, there was no car that could go fast enough to get me out of there with the sh#t hat was going on in my system. My dad quickly drove me to the ORV area, and there, the rangers observed me, and quickly called in the cavalry. Within 20 minutes, a chopper landed on the Highway, and E-Vac’d me to foothill medical. I remember loading into the chopper in a gurney, and after that, I was in and out of consciousness. I remember brief segments in the hospital. I remember getting a couple doses of anti-serum and not much else, until I was transferred to Kaiser Permanente (theres where my medical insurance was). I remember sitting in Kaiser while my right finger, arm, and lat area grew to gigantic proportions. I was in ER for several days. The doc was telling my dad that he would have to cutoff my finger and lance my arm because of the intense swelling. My dad said “NO F’N WAY”. Finally, after 3 days of intense pain, semi-consciousness and fear of losing an arm or finger, the hospital finally realized I hadn’t received my full dose of anti-serum over at the first hospital. So Kaiser gave me my remaining 4 or 5 doses of anti-serum and within a few more days, the swelling in my arm and lat started to recede rather quickly.

So here, I am. Alive and kicking. And with a good story to tell. A long story, but a pretty good one. About the only good thing I got out of this bite, was that it happened at the end of my senior year in high school, and I missed all my finals. My teachers took pity on me as they all thought I would lose an arm or something, so they dismissed me from taking the finals, averaged my yearly grades and low and behold, I passed my senior year with 3.85 GPA and didn’t have to take the finals.

That’s my true story and I’m sticking to it.

P.S. I actually wrote a really good article for Men’s Journal Magazine. It was published in 1991 or ’92. And funny thing is, it’s shorter than this article. I also hav tons of "run-ins" with rattlers and catch them quite often. I'll try to find some cool pics of my cool rattlesnake bitten finger about to fall off.

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:44 am
by brian90620
Last summer (not really sure of the date) My gf and I were hiking from Vincent Gap down to Prairie Fork. About half a mile from Prairie Fork there was a tree down over the trail so we had to climb over it. As soon as I was about to put my foot down on the other side of the tree I saw a rattle snake spread out right where my foot was about to land. Needless to say it scared the crap out of me and I jumped back. :shock: I don't think the snake was even aware that I was there up till the moment I almost stepped on him. He didn't even rattle he just slid under the tree very quickly. Right after I told my gf how I almost steeped on the snake and she freaked out and she demanded that we head back, so we did only about a half mile from our destinitation, this was pretty dissapointing. :evil: Well anyways the rest of the hike back I kept having these thoughts about what if the snake would have bit me, we were several miles from the car and a long way from the hospital........It could have went really bad!!!!!!
On another note, after the fact I was kind of happy that we went back when we did because when we were driving on the ACH we saw a pretty large coyote sitting in the shade in a turn out near blue ridge, so that was cool........

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:23 am
by Ze Hiker
man EnFuego, that's some crazy shiat!

so when exactly did he bite you? while you were in the act of throwing up?

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:46 am
by Bill
:shock: :shock: Enfuego,
Picking one up is beyond my comprehension. You the man! 8)
Your story is amazing to me. I hope you guys at least caught some trout up there. :lol:
I gotta tell you I am not afraid of snakes, (That is to say I don't curl into the fetal position and piss my pants) but if I see them I give them a wide birth. In fact I am constantly searching the trail for the slithery buggers. I remember one time walking on a trail in the Santa Monica mountains, catching sight of a rattlesnake out of the corner of my eye, and in my pin-head subconscious mind saying to my self "rattlesnake!" and then turning around and stepping over it again! I think it would have bit me, but it was so shocked at my stupidity, it took pitty on me, and viewed me as no threat. :lol: :lol:
I also spent some time hiking in Costa Rica, home of the Bushmaster, and Ferdelance among others. Fortunately never saw any, but not for lack of looking. We actually carried antivenon with us, since we were over 5 hours into the jungle. As it turns out the dose we carried would have been woefully inadequate. (would have taken 10 vials I am told) depending on the snake.
Brian,
I have been down Vincent Gulch a few times. Your right, that would be a bad place to get bit (not well traveled most of the time):shock: I guess anyplace without cell coverage would mean hiking out yourself, or waiting for help. Another reason not to hike alone.

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:52 pm
by Nate
I ran into a baby rattle snake in Ceder Canyon between Telegraph and Thunder Mtn last year in April. I almost steped on it when my friend behind me shouted at me to stop. It could of been bad. We poked around at trying to get a cool pic of it. Havn't seen one since.

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 4:28 pm
by Tim
I have two snake stories:

The first one was while my friends and I were hiking back from Suicide Rock in Idyllwild. I was the last person in the group and my friend Ann was walking about 10 feet in front of me. I always scan the ground as I walk so I saw a snake slithering across the trail in front of Ann. She was totally oblivious to it. I was about to tell her to stop but she was walking too fast. So instead, I yelled out "Keep Walking!! Keep Walking!!" I was afraid she would see the snake at the last minute, stop and get bitten. She could tell from my tone of voice something was wrong so she kept walking faster and then she stepped right on the snake! The snake curled up and its head turned towards her leg. I thought it was going to strike but she was in mid-stride and was out of the way a second later. Turns out it was a California Kingsnake.

The other snake encounter was during Ze's group hike to Cucamonga Peak last May. I had to escort a girl up the Icehouse Canyon trail because she was late and moving slower than the group. We were about 10 minutes from the saddle (that area where there are those bushes right next to the trail). She was walking in front of me when we heard this loud rattling sound and she screamed. Hell, I screamed like a girl too! We both jumped back and out of the way. That crazy rattler was just a foot away from the trail, hiding in the bushes!

So what's the lesson here? Always hike with a girl in front of you so the snake will bite her first. :lol: j/k

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:07 pm
by outwhere
---
Nice ones!!! Thanks for the nightmares, oops, I mean stories...

:lol: :lol:
EnFuego wrote:hoisted him to eye level, had a brief conversation with him about proper river etiquette
Was this about the time he started having a 'hissy fit'??? To quote Bill Murray from Stripes: "I wanna party with you cowboy." :lol: :lol: :lol:

****

Am glad you wrote this Brain:
brian90620 wrote:I don't think the snake was even aware that I was there up till the moment I almost stepped on him.


I'm sure it's a fair, general rule - & trust me, I've tried to believe in what folks told me: "don't worry about snakes, they sense you coming long before you're near them."

But I sure seem to hear a lot of these 'the snake just sat there like it never knew I was coming along the trail' type situations too... What gives? Bolder or lazier snakes these days?

That does it, I'm off to buy a pet mongoose for the trail... :idea: :P

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:05 pm
by EManBevHills
I missed seeing a small one in some manzanita between W Baldy and Big Iron on a 100 degree plus day at over 8500 feet!

Thankfully, my partner saw it first or I would have been right on top of it.

Who woulda thunk they hang at that altitude?

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:26 pm
by Hikin_Jim
When I was stationed at Ft. Huachuca, AZ, in the mid-80's, I went out for a hike. The "trail" scrambled up over some class 3 rocks. I grabbed a good hand hold and raised my self up so that my face was now above the hand hold -- and on the ledge inches from my face was a rattler who immediately coiled and commenced rattling.

Needless to say, I took first place in the speed downclimbing category. :shock:

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:59 pm
by kgw
Great tales of wilderness adventure! :twisted: :lol:

Here's mine: Way back in prehistory (early '70's for you young'uns), my lady and I drove up to Big Sycamore Canyon early one morning. It was cold in the canyon bottom, but we warmed up by walking up canyon and looping up to the top of the west side. It was getting nice and sunny up along the ridge top: beautiful day. I was standing beside a large bush admiring the view when Nature called; right before the stream would have washed over his head, a rattler moved deeper into the bush. Didn't rattle at all.

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:03 am
by Hikin_Jim
kgw wrote: I was standing beside a large bush admiring the view when Nature called; right before the stream would have washed over his head, a rattler moved deeper into the bush. Didn't rattle at all.
Boy, I bet that would have really pissed him off. :lol:

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:02 pm
by sleighty
In september of last year a friend and I were headed up the ski hut trail and heard a rustling noise about 1/4-1/2 mile shy of the hut, right before the switchbacks...looked over and in the bushes right next to the trail were two big rattlers gettin' it on. Wrapped around each other...dancing...then rolling in the ground...quite beautiful actually.

I've never had much fear of snakes, usually if they see you comin' they just head on out

I believe I'm pretty lucky to have seen this though...I've brought it up with rangers and friends who have been hiking their whole lives and have never seen rattlers mating. I tried to get a pic, but it got pretty washed out, or too dark, or something, I forget what...I'll try posting it when I find it.

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:12 pm
by outwhere
kgw wrote:right before the stream would have washed over his head, a rattler moved deeper into the bush.
sleighty wrote:in the bushes right next to the trail were two big rattlers gettin' it on
Oh my, this is gettin' wild :P :lol: - right now this is a 'S-Rated' thread, will it reach X-ratings soon :twisted:

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These two snakes in a bush stories, rattled my brain enough to remember another.... how the hell could I forget this moment.

We wuz car camping in Chilao, a summer parks employee beer bash is what it turned out to be.... by 2pm, too many Heinekens were flowing...

Then we heard someone yell SNAKE!!

Couldn't believe my eyes but it was true. A HUGE, LONG FAT rattler came slithering right through our sandy, very very hot campground - like no one was around.... exxxxxcccccccussse me.

Of course all of us drunkards started following it, beers in hand, yelling, laughing, it was really moving fast now... constricting it's body, springing forward, it was amazing to see...

It crosses a paved road... now only 2 or 3 of us are chasing it...

Then, I've never seen anything like it, that huge snake managed it to make it to the base of a not-that-big Yucca plant, I saw it go in there, but if you didn't look very carefully, you'd never known it was wrapped around the Yucca. A mind blowing disappearing act is what it was... [and i wasn't even that drunk,,,, yet]

The real pisser, excuse the pun kgw :lol: --- but all the while I was taking pictures of our snake chase... some excellent action pics if I don't mind saying so myself... and to this day, I still can't find those pictures.

Losing those pictures haunts me just as much as hearing a rattle on brushy trail...

There were about 15 of us on that Chilao car camping trip.... and for the rest of that weekend, everybody was watching their steps quite carefully...

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:36 pm
by Bill
Hikin_Jim wrote:
kgw wrote: I was standing beside a large bush admiring the view when Nature called; right before the stream would have washed over his head, a rattler moved deeper into the bush. Didn't rattle at all.
Boy, I bet that would have really pissed him off. :lol:
Does that qualify as stage fright? :shock: :lol:

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:20 am
by 406
Seen hundreds of them and still scream like a little girl every time.

My girlfriend puked one time after a rattler slithered out from under a rock that I lowered her onto during a rock climbing trip.

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:21 pm
by phydeux
Yesterday, March 15, on the trail up to Lost Horse Mtn in Joshua Tree Natl Park. It was on the trail just after where most persons go down off the trail to the Lost Horse Mine ruins. I went a short distance beyond that point to find a good way up to the summit (its a short chapparell scamper), and it was sitting there waiting for the sun to warm it up. When I came down it was gone.

Have seen them many times in the deserts from Death Valley to Anza Borrego and across into Arizona, but never in the San Berdoo, San Gabriel, San Jacinto, Santa Ana, or Sierra Nevada Mtns.

Re: Snake spooked 2...

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:38 pm
by outwhere
An open letter to D. Rattle Snake:

Do you see what you are doing Mr. Snake?

To be quite upfront, you are making some of us very uneasy...

I mean if you are making someone with what appear to be python-sized forearms scream like a mini Shirley Temple, something is wrong.

And to top it off, you are getting into some peoples' head so much, that they THROW UP at the mere sight of you. Does that mean anything to you?

Oh Mr. Snake, I know it's your home we are visiting..... but we come there to free ourselves from stress and fear, not to get more of the same.

So take a deep look at what happens to some of us when we stumble upon you..... we scream, we run, we jump, we throw you across rivers, we THROW UP!!! And all at the sight of you. Are you proud of yourself? I wonder.....

So take a tip from the bears, the mountain lions, and even your 4 legged scaly cousins [for some reason I don't mind them].... they all know how to slip away before we get near... so how 'bout you doing what you're supposed to be so good at too, vanishing!

I'm happy enough to see you on the occasional 'Gunsmoke' rerun... but that's about it.

Thank for hearing me, even though you probably won't listen...