[Az-Geocaching] Rattlers are out!

[George Harris]

TDP was out this past weekend, and encountered not one, but two rattlers.
One didn't move from his hiding spot, but the other was downright hostile.
Mrs. Gusano (of team Gusanos de Amor)  got too close, and he went nuts.  He
didn't strike though, but he was ready.

With this warm spell, I would be *very* wary around caches in rockpiles,
especially with packrat nests in the area. Snakes like apartments with fast
food joints nearby.

Use a hiking stick and whack stuff ahead of you where you can't see well.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Scotti" <jscotti at pirl.lpl.Arizona.EDU>
To: <listserv at azgeocaching.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 2:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Az-Geocaching] Rattlers are out!


> I've heard that they can only strike about their own length, so as long as
> you are outside of that range, you should be alright.  Being an
astronomer,
> I'd add a factor of two to that just to be safe.....  :-)  Speaking of
> Lancer, it's also a very good idea to be aware of your hiking companions
> surroundings as well as your own, especilly if your companion is a dog or
a
> child.
>
> I've never seen a rattler while hiking either, amazingly.  My wife saw one
> once, but by the time I got over to her, it had slithered away.  I have
seen
> them in the road.  The best view I had of one (outside of the Desert
Museum)
> was on a dirt road on the way into Toroweap Overlook on the north rim.
The
> rattler was in the middle of the road and I stopped about 10 or 15 feet
short
> of him and got out to take pictures, staying back about 6 or 8 feet
(making
> use of the zoom lens on my camera...).  Since I didn't want to run him
over,
> I tossed some pebbles at him to get him to move off the road before
> continuing on.
>
> Jim.
>
> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005, Michelle Chelby Geiss wrote:
>
> > > Its
> > > cohort was about 50' away waiting in a bush as I jogged past,
> > > thankfully out
> > > of reach (I hope) of striking.
> >
> > That's a good question...what is the striking distance?  I was
> > pondering that as my legs shook under me, trying to decide whether to
> > turn around or try to slink by. He was about 4 feet off the trail.  I
> > decided to slink by...:)  I am just thankful Lancer (dog) decided to
> > totally ignore him...guess that snake breaking worked!
> >
> > Chelby:)
> >
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>
> Jim Scotti
> Lunar & Planetary Laboratory
> University of Arizona
> Tucson, AZ 85721 USA                 http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/
>
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