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renohandjams
Sep 11, 2006, 4:35 AM
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I know there are tons of threads about snakes, and rattlesnakes, but I wanted a thread about climber's encounters with rattlesnakes that didn't rattle early enough to give enough warning.
We went climbing at the phantom spires yesterday and on the way down the trail we were moving fast to go eat lunch at the car and then come back and climb some more. We came around a corner and a HUGE rattle snake moved onto the trial from the side. It struck at Canon without even rattling and missed him by about two feet. Canon was so startled he jumped back and ended up falling downhill. I have seen a lot of rattle snakes hiking around, but this one was the largest I've ever seen, well over 5 feet and as fat as my calves (I have huge calves too).
It was funny seeing Canon's reaction, but scary at the same time. The snake almost seemed to charge at us before it struck. It was very agressive, and held its ground. I would have posted a picture, but I didn't bother taking one since it was hard to see under the bush it moved to.
For the rest of the day I would walk slowly and rattle my hexes to make sure I would at least get the warning of a rattle before a strike. It was at noon too, so the rattle snake was warmed up enough, we were just moving too fast I think.
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boredwolf
Sep 11, 2006, 12:31 PM
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I've heard stories about them learning not to rattle recently. They appear to be rather intelligent, and have learned that rattling generally gets them killed. It's supposed to be a warning to get the hell away, but maybe you guys were past that 'friendly warning' zone. I had a 2-footer slither right between my legs the other weekend when I was hiking back up to the top of Pilot Mountain. It was dusk, so I didn't see the little bugger until he was already under me. Never rattled, never even acknowledged my presence, just slithered on by...
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lrossi
Sep 11, 2006, 1:50 PM
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In reply to: For the rest of the day I would walk slowly and rattle my hexes to make sure I would at least get the warning of a rattle before a strike
I don't think rattling your hexes will help. Snakes are deaf. They can feel vibrations in the ground, so if you stomp around like bigfoot maybe that will chase them off.
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fitzontherocks
Sep 11, 2006, 2:00 PM
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"I AM FED UP WITH THESE MOTHER LOVIN' SNAKES ON THIS MOTHER LOVIN' TRAIL!!!!"
(Apologies to Samuel L. Jackson)
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tradmanclimbs
Sep 11, 2006, 2:10 PM
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My GF got buzzed by a mojave green near St george. It let her walk past and then buzzed her from behind. A really big snake!!! I allways wondered about trail running in the desert??? I like to keep my eyes peeled to the trail but then again I am from the NE where we don't have big snakes that can kill you!!!!
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j_ung
Sep 11, 2006, 2:31 PM
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I've had several (10? 12? something like that) encounters with rattlers over the years and only one of them gave me what I thought was fair warning. All the rest either waited until I was within a meter or two or never rattled at all.
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billcoe_
Sep 11, 2006, 3:13 PM
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I think I read an identical post called "Don't run in rattlesnake terrority" which came right after "Don't piss on live electric fences" which is on the "things you don't want to do often thread". :lol:
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fancyclaps
Sep 11, 2006, 3:25 PM
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I grew up with rattlesnakes all around so they are old hat to me. A piece of advice I got was to obviously, not mess with the snakes at all. Whenever a snake bites you because you startled it, there is a chance it wont inject venom. However if you have been screwing with the snake then it will inject a lot more venom than it would normally. I know this follows common sense and all, but its something to think about.
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artmusicsouth
Sep 11, 2006, 3:27 PM
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In the deep south rattlers are a problem but you often times see copperheads. 2 quick run-ins I had:
1) I had taken a friend climbing to teach him how to lead. We went to Jamestown in Alabama and did an easy route called Birthday Suit. I lead it up and placed lots of gear so he could see all the various placements. At the top I tied into a huge tree and just laid back against it watching the moring sun come through the trees. As he was coming up I was looking around and off to my left maybe 10 feet was the largest copperhead I have ever seen. He obviously came out to warm himself but man he so big I couldn't believe it. If I had not been tied in it wouldn't have been so bad as I could have easily moved off but I did encourage my partner to hurry up.
2) At Foster Falls in TN I was stick-clipped to a bolt on a route on Sanford Wall. As I was getting ready to step on to the wall I stepped in some leaves at the base. At that moment a copperhead stuck his head up at me like he was saying "Who the freak woke me up?" It was quite a sight seeing me run back as fast as I could and consequently my belayer being pulled into the rock towards the snake.
Mark
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mturner
Sep 11, 2006, 3:27 PM
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I've only encountered one rattlesnake and have ever since been much more cautious. It slithered right under me when I was bouldering...talk about motivation to send!!!
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tradmanclimbs
Sep 11, 2006, 3:47 PM
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Yikes!!! imagin if he parked himself on your pad to sun and then you gripped out and fell on him :shock: :shock:
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mturner
Sep 11, 2006, 3:53 PM
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In reply to: Yikes!!! imagin if he parked himself on your pad to sun and then you gripped out and fell on him :shock: :shock:
Yeah I try not to imagine what would have happened if I fell.
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azrockclimber
Sep 11, 2006, 4:03 PM
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In reply to: I've had several (10? 12? something like that) encounters with rattlers over the years and only one of them gave me what I thought was fair warning. All the rest either waited until I was within a meter or two or never rattled at all.
I'll second this. I have had about 5 or 6 pretty close run ins over the years.
About half the time I had fair warning, the other half they were very close by the time the rattle went off. I do have to say that the majority of those encounters were earlier on in my climbing career. I attribute this to the way I learned to hike. I stomp and occasionally clap in rocky boulder strewn areas where I cannot see everything around me. Even when I can see I will still toss a heavy foot down fairly frequently.
This, I feel, clears 'em out before I get close enough to bother them or for them to feel like they need to try and bite my ass.
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metalhead
Sep 11, 2006, 4:21 PM
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2 rattellers a a time arches N.P.
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metalhead
Sep 11, 2006, 4:22 PM
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2 rattellers at a time arches N.P.
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metalhead
Sep 11, 2006, 4:25 PM
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2 rattlers at a time arches N.P.
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phugganut
Sep 11, 2006, 5:33 PM
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In reply to: I've had several (10? 12? something like that) encounters with rattlers over the years and only one of them gave me what I thought was fair warning. All the rest either waited until I was within a meter or two or never rattled at all.
I have had many encounters with rattlesnakes living in Arizona and have never had one give warning, even the one I came within inches of stepping on one.
A few months ago while on a climbing weekend I left the campfire to pee on a bush. I saw something in the bush move and turned on my headlamp and saw that I was peeing on a rattlesnake! It crawled out of the bush, over my foot, and slithered of without ever making a sound.
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wjca
Sep 11, 2006, 6:10 PM
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In reply to: In the deep south rattlers are a problem but you often times see copperheads. 2 quick run-ins I had: 1) I had taken a friend climbing to teach him how to lead. We went to Jamestown in Alabama and did an easy route called Birthday Suit. I lead it up and placed lots of gear so he could see all the various placements. At the top I tied into a huge tree and just laid back against it watching the moring sun come through the trees. As he was coming up I was looking around and off to my left maybe 10 feet was the largest copperhead I have ever seen. He obviously came out to warm himself but man he so big I couldn't believe it. If I had not been tied in it wouldn't have been so bad as I could have easily moved off but I did encourage my partner to hurry up. 2) At Foster Falls in TN I was stick-clipped to a bolt on a route on Sanford Wall. As I was getting ready to step on to the wall I stepped in some leaves at the base. At that moment a copperhead stuck his head up at me like he was saying "Who the freak woke me up?" It was quite a sight seeing me run back as fast as I could and consequently my belayer being pulled into the rock towards the snake. Mark
That's pretty funny.
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wjca
Sep 11, 2006, 6:12 PM
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[quote="phugganut"]In reply to: I've had several (10? 12? something like that) encounters with rattlers over the years and only one of them gave me what I thought was fair warning. All the rest either waited until I was within a meter or two or never rattled at all.
I have had many encounters with rattlesnakes living in Arizona and have never had one give warning, even the one I came within inches of stepping on one.
A few months ago while on a climbing weekend I left the campfire to pee on a bush. I saw something in the bush move and turned on my headlamp and saw that I was peeing on a rattlesnake! It crawled out of the bush, over my foot, and slithered of without ever making a sound.[/quote]
Were you able to finish peeing? If you did, my hat is off to you, 'cause I imagine that would be the unlimate stage fright.
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dingus
Sep 11, 2006, 6:28 PM
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In reply to: I've heard stories about them learning not to rattle recently. They appear to be rather intelligent, and have learned that rattling generally gets them killed.
You cannot be serious??? Perhaps you can tell me how a snake would learn this lesson? Rattlesnake school? Watched its momma get stomped by some stupid snake hater named Billy Bob? What? How's a good rattlesnake to learn not to rattle?
DMT
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chizoad
Sep 11, 2006, 6:47 PM
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If people kill the rattlesnakes that rattle, then the only ones that reproduce are the ones that don't tend to rattle when threatened. Those offspring are less likely to rattle also. So no they don't really learn in snake school.
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redlegrangerone
Sep 11, 2006, 7:43 PM
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I attended a seminar on lizards and snakes of the desert a few weeks ago. The snake expert did mention that rattlesnakes are learning to not rattle. It is an evolutionary process. Not only does a rattle say to back off, it also says to a bigger predator "Here I am, come eat me". The ones that rattle do not survive, so the non rattling trait is passed on.
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phugganut
Sep 11, 2006, 8:14 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: In reply to: I've had several (10? 12? something like that) encounters with rattlers over the years and only one of them gave me what I thought was fair warning. All the rest either waited until I was within a meter or two or never rattled at all. I have had many encounters with rattlesnakes living in Arizona and have never had one give warning, even the one I came within inches of stepping on one. A few months ago while on a climbing weekend I left the campfire to pee on a bush. I saw something in the bush move and turned on my headlamp and saw that I was peeing on a rattlesnake! It crawled out of the bush, over my foot, and slithered of without ever making a sound.[/Were you able to finish peeing? If you did, my hat is off to you, 'cause I imagine that would be the unlimate stage fright.
Yeah I finished, but had several beers in me wanting to get out. It didn't really freak me out until I thought about it afterward. I mean, although you don't want to get bitten by a rattler anywhere on your body, there are some places that would be much worse than others!
Of course, after the realization of what it was set in, I did what any good transplanted redneck would do and yelled out: "Hey y'all, check this out!"
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dingus
Sep 11, 2006, 9:09 PM
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In reply to: I attended a seminar on lizards and snakes of the desert a few weeks ago. The snake expert did mention that rattlesnakes are learning to not rattle. It is an evolutionary process. Not only does a rattle say to back off, it also says to a bigger predator "Here I am, come eat me". The ones that rattle do not survive, so the non rattling trait is passed on.
I don't buy it, not for a minute.
DMT
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