We've twice been told that we were looking at a rattlesnake. Once, another hiker at Mount Falcon Park warned us that the big pile of coiled reptile under a bush was a rattler. We skittered by too fast to confirm it. A few weeks ago, at Mount Galbraith Park, a trio of teenage Japanese tourists told us that the skinny snake rearing up between two boulders like a snake charmer's boa constrictor was a rattler. I'm no herpetologist, but it looked like a garter snake.
So I guess we'd gotten a little sceptical about ever seeing a rattlesnake out here. But as I led our little party of three (Jim, Hana and me) around a bend on the Eagle Wind Trail at Rabbit Mountain yesterday, a gigantic snake—olive with black markings, at least 30" long—slithered across the trail right in front of me. The rattles looked weirdly like molded plastic pieces popped over the tip of its tail—sort of like fake fingernails. As it passed into the brush, a sound like the shaking of seeds in a dried gourd confirmed the sighting.
So naturally we had a "Ya think?" moment when we paused at the end of the hike to read a little sign at the trailhead that reported that Rabbit Mountain had once been named Rattlesnake Mountain—"for good reason!"
2 comments:
Our friends with small children in rattlesnake country teach them a simple rule: If the head is the same size as the body, the snake is harmless. If the head is bigger than the body, come inside right away.
I have never checked the rule with a herpetologist, but it sounds right.
They have a rattle snake shot that you can get for your dog that gives them a little extra time before you rush them to the vet. I was thinking of getting it for Foxy but I haven't been doing much hiking lately.
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