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Post by shooter on Jun 27, 2016 10:57:18 GMT -8
I was very lucky this past Saturday , I stepped over a young rattle snake that was basking on the other side of a large rock I had stepped off. I scooted him off the trail with my trekking pole so others could pass, but it got me wondering, Does anyone wear gaiters to keep these guys from nailing you?
It truly freaked my girlfriend out as it was the first time she has seen one on the trail. He gave no warning and I think I scared him as much as he shocked me.
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almostthere
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putting on my hiking shoes....
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Post by almostthere on Jun 27, 2016 11:01:53 GMT -8
There are such a thing as snake gaiters - they are hard durable material, not fabric, and they are hot. The only place I know to get them is in catalogs for biologists/herpetologists as they actually go looking for the critters. Regular gaiters are not going to be of much use in turning away a snake determined to bite.
I simply watch where I step - it's worked for decades. The rattlers where I go are not however aggressive, as they can be in some places. I also have trekking poles and have used them to "help" rattlers out of the trail without any violence on either of our parts.
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Jun 27, 2016 11:21:37 GMT -8
I wear gaiters and am in snake country but I don't wear them specifically wear them to deal with snakes. I doubt that snakes would be stopped by mine.
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BigLoad
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Pancakes!
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Post by BigLoad on Jun 27, 2016 11:35:49 GMT -8
I see rattlers with some regularity but I don't use any form of protection. Bites of hikers minding their own business are exceedingly rare. Almost every bite that makes the news comes from somebody that was messing with it.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Jun 27, 2016 12:27:00 GMT -8
Rattlesnakes are predators/carnivores.
Carnivores are tertiary consumers of energy, thus there can never be a large number of them since they depend on the substrate of primary and secondary consumers of energy: the plants and the herbivores.
Worrying about rattlesnakes instead of stinging insects is a case of worrying about what the 1% might do to you as opposed to the 99% (or, more likely, the 60 or 70%).
I grant that a "sting" from a rattlesnake might be fatal, but there are much more prevalent & dangerous threats from mosquitoes, wasps/bees & the like.
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Post by trinity on Jun 27, 2016 12:29:24 GMT -8
Bites of hikers minding their own business are exceedingly rare. Almost every bite that makes the news comes from somebody that was messing with it. This. I have practically stepped on numerous rattlesnakes (they are, after all, quite well camouflaged), and never been bitten. In fact, it seems as if they often start rattling just as I get past them, which usually results in a near world record long jump on my part. But they have no interest in biting me or anyone else.
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Post by shooter on Jun 27, 2016 16:17:31 GMT -8
Yeah it was a doozy, had I seen it while in motion I probably would have touched cotton. My girlfriend let out a shriek so I turned around quickly to see her poor eye balls popping out of her head. I was already 15 feet from it when she yelled out. I just scooted his butt off the trail as there was a couple behind us that looked as if they both soiled their shorts upon seeing it lol.
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Westy
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Post by Westy on Jun 27, 2016 17:34:19 GMT -8
They are common here in the Salt Lake area. I just put my rabbit ears on! Ear buds and headphones not a smart gear choice.
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daveb
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Post by daveb on Jun 28, 2016 7:08:27 GMT -8
I wear the 1000-denier Cordura nylon gators when we hike the swamps looking for hogs but mainly for water moccasins that are hard to see in the tall grass. I've never been struck so I can't say they work but they do get hot. I've been close to rattlesnakes but luckily I've only had one small velvet tail coil on me due to my lack of attention. He didn't want to bite, just let me know he was there and he got my full attention.
My fear of rattlesnakes stems from the basic training video we watched while doing boot camp at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The video showed the carnage of what hemotoxins can do to a leg. Then they tell us that there have been reports of legs broken from large rattlesnake's strikes. (gulp). SO...I wear those hot gators.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jun 30, 2016 6:50:15 GMT -8
They are common here in the Salt Lake area. I just put my rabbit ears on! Ear buds and headphones not a smart gear choice. Very true! Also be aware if your hearing is starting to go--the buzz of a rattler is in the higher range and you may not be able to hear it (my FiL hasn't been able to hear a rattler for years, even with his hearing aids). I've encountered very few rattlesnakes, despite a fair bit of desert hiking. But there was one that led to some serious air dancing in King's Canyon a few years ago...I heard the buzz just as my foot came down on a nice fat round stick. I couldn't locate the snake (after I realized I was NOT standing on it) so spent some moments trying to keep both feet in the air just in case.
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almostthere
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putting on my hiking shoes....
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Post by almostthere on Jun 30, 2016 7:13:13 GMT -8
I've stepped on a baby coiled up rattler in a stream bed - he was between some rocks and my foot came down right over him. I used the trekking pole to move him out of the way since there were other people coming (this was in Pinnacles at the bottom of one of the caves, and there were a ton of people).
When I was seven, I came down the slide in our backyard and saw a coiled up snake at the bottom - grabbed the sides of the slide to stop sliding, jumped off the side, ran in the house, got mom, and she killed that three foot snake with a tricycle. Left it draped over the fence for dad to remove. We don't fear them here, but we know how to handle it, have done so since I was tiny. My toddler brother was playing in the yard with our dog at the time. We always kept playing outside just the same -- they are everywhere, you just avoid getting into intimate contact if at all possible.
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Post by trinity on Jun 30, 2016 7:29:27 GMT -8
That's funny, we used to call it "the snake dance" when someone almost stepped on a snake. Highly entertaining to watch.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2016 17:07:38 GMT -8
Daveb, I also did my basic combat training at Ft Bliss. Rattle snakes were common in McGregor range.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Jul 3, 2016 8:51:20 GMT -8
In South Texas, I grew up with rattlesnakes, water moccasins, copperheads, coral snakes - we had chickens, so a lot of snakes, including non-poisonous ones like kingsnakes, would attempt to steal an egg or a chick from the coop now and then - no matter how hard we tried to "snakeproof" the chicken house.
The places I hike and camp in locally outside of town still have snakes, and it's wise to avoid walking near to brush, rocks, cactus, logs and any other areas that might serve as "cover". If you must, check first before stepping forward, and watch where you put your feet and hands. OTOH, I've never been bitten, and I've done a lot of hiking in South Texas and the Hill Country, where they are abundant. On cold days, sunny areas on rocks and paths can be home to snakes who are trying to "warm up".
When I was a kid, we used to dig "tunnels" and holes in the yard for our toys during play. After coming back to find a snake curled up in our cool hideaway out of the hot sun the next day, we started to clean up the holes and tunnels before leaving them. No sense taking that kind of chance. Common sense rules when it comes to snakes, as it does with most wildlife.
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