My Son had a close encounter with a Rattlesnake yesterday.........

[Kelley (Texas)]

My Son, Dennis, is in the law enforcement profession and rides a mountain bike on the trails around here as a hobby to stay physically fit and as a means to release stress. San Antonio has become bike friendly and have been building bike trails in many of the city parks, and have now also started building trails connecting the parks.

Yesterday evening, he was out riding some new trails and time got away from him. It was late in the evening and he was really going fast down those new trails, wanting to reach his car before it got dark. This trail that he was riding on was asphalt, about four feet wide, with heavy brush on both sides. He had just came down a long slope and was entering a turn when he noticed a snake had slowly crawled onto the bike trail, trying to cross to the other side. He applied his brakes hard and barely stopped a few feet from the snake. There was Dennis three feet from that snake, horrified seeing it coil up and start shaking it's rattles as it's head slowly moved back and forth. He said that he just froze, did not move. After a minute or two, the snake stopped rattling so Dennis tried to back up a few inches. That set the snake to rattling again. When Dennis tried to get off the bike, the snake got aggressive and started rattling. Finally Dennis decided to just stay still and hope that the Rattlesnake would move on. He wait about fifteen minutes and the snake finally uncoiled and moved off into the brush. Dennis took a big breath and shot past the spot where the snake went into the brush. He finally reached his car and made a vow that he would not be riding that trail for awhile.

When Dennis told me about it today, he said that a few seconds more he would have been bitten by that snake. He said that he was really going fast and barely got stopped in time. He reported the snake and some park employee said that they would put up some "Beware - Snakes" signs. If any of you folks ride mountain bike trails, when the weather is hot, be on the lookout for snakes. What is strange is that just the other day, we were discussing Rattlesnakes on another forum. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Royal]

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[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

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[Kelley (Texas)]

just about uncontrollable for some reason, so I decided to dismount. As I dismounted a rattlesnake struck me on the lower leg just above the ankle. My boots saved my life that day. The poison turned a large part of my lower jeans a sick looking yellow/white color, like they had been bleached in that area. That is why the horse was uncontrollable, he had smelled that Rattlesnake. I never heard the snake rattle, if he did, but I did see it draw back to strike again as the horse drew back half dragging me because I was holding on to the saddle horn. That was a large rattlesnake and if he had actually bit me, I would have been in big trouble. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

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[Micheal_R]

I am very pleased to hear that he is okay, nothing happened and he had the foresight to stay calm and not move. To be fair, I have had no dealings with snakes... and would probably have gone into panic mode when i saw it.

fair winds

Micheal

 

[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

What an ordeal that had to be! Makes me glad that we don't have snakes like that to worry about back here. Our only rattler species is the Massasagua. And 99 % of the population here will never see one because they are extremely rare. Not very big either. I've read about guys detecting in area's where (real) rattler's and copperheads are common and I think......no thanks......not for me. I'd have those boots "bronzed" and put on a shelf. Wow.......talk about a close call.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

wrecked his boat after hitting the water moccasin down on Leon Creek with his jon boat. The inpact of the collision threw him forward, almost out of the boat. That snake was so big that his teeth were enbedded in the front of the boat and the boat repair folks had to use a crow bar to pry them loose before they could repair the boat. I must have been six or seven years old at the time and didn't want to fish on that creek for a long, long time. I had always heard that snakes traveled in pairs. For a long time, neither my cousin Billy Bob or I wanted to ride in the front of that boat, had many heated fights over it...we knew that the other half of the pair was still living in Leon Creek. No, it is best that I don't tell you about that story, sorry! Kelley (Texas)

 

[George-CT]

Remaining calm and not making stupid moves is the way to go.... Sounds like your son is on top of his game. George

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

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[George-CT]

That will finish us up in the Motocross circuit... We still have a Hare Scramble to do and a woods turkey run that is 80 miles... The rest of it is members racing each other on Wed nights... We will see where we stand after this weekend. Because of the economic right now we are getting less riders to race, to the tune of about 100 less on the start gate... Thats a big hit on our total money take. We are getting more spectators and we figure they don't have the money to go on long trips so are trying things close to home.... If we come up short, we will hold Open Practice Quad races... We need x amount of dollars to pay the bills until next April when we start racing again.... A lot of our cost went up this year so we need to regroup a little, perhaps give less away per group. Police cost all went up along with ambulance cost, fire department cost, Porta Potties also cost jump, dumpster cost... You name it, its up..... We have a big Board of Trustees this coming Monday night after the races this weekend and see what it all looks like....

I just came back from there, we finish dozing the track, running the sprinklers, and finishing mowing the grounds..... Took the bike up and the long way home...Nice ride......


George

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

You try to not mess with a Rattlesnake when you are within three feet of it. Dennis said that it was about four feet long and fat. He came by the house yesterday evening and we talked about the snake. He said that what bothered him the most was that head moving back and forth, like it was taking aim at him. Kelley (Texas)

 

[George-CT]

Good turn out today and hopefully tomorrow....Hope the weather holds....They are calling for rain around 6:00pm. If it holds to then we are in good shape...Any earlier and it drives the spectators away...Bikers race in anything..... I was wandering around the track so took shots as he came by.... Its been dry here so we have been wetting it off and on for 3 days...seems about right now..... We will wet it tonight so it soaks in good and we are all set.....Sure keeps the dust down.....Andy likes those outside lines.... going to try a video of it all tomorrow....

George

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

I noticed that there was not any real dust and that you all had wet down the track. I hope that the rain holds off for you. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Royal]

that has to give them one heck of a workout!! I would have loved it but nothing much like it around our area when I was a kid

 

[Bayrat76]

FRed you every notice the differnce in rattle snakes, The really fat rattle snakes have a different nose that goes up, like a hog nose, There head is much boarder and the diamonds are lined in white. I think there a different breed of rattle snakes. We have a lot of the salt rattlers down in this area, they don't seem to get much over four feet, a stay thinner. But then you run into those really fat hog nose bad boys that will not back down, there not giving a inch. With all this salt grass that grows in patches they coil up in it and hide, It's hard to tell what pile there in. I don't mind snakes if I see them first, but when you hear the rattling first, and can't see where it's coming from I sure get spooked. I don't kill them any more unless there around the camp site at the deer lease, or really scare me bad. But in this heat that's when there travel in the late even and early morning. The one snake I do kill every time I seen one is the Cotton Mouth, I hate them, they are not scared of you one bit and will come at you with the full attention to bite you. I love killing them. I have had way to many close calls with rattle snakes in my life, I guess I am lucky to never be bite yet. I bought a pair of snake champs I were when working in thick brush now. Next month were having a work day at the ranch, I work though the heat of the day, when some of them work in the cooler parts, but I learned years ago about there habits, I stay away from the tree covered little valleys too, were it is cooler. I still hate spiders way worse than snakes anyday.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

than the typical Rattlesnake. The Cotton Mouth is a nasty tempered snake that is always looking for a fight and will charge you. They are extremely dangerous.

Yes, I have noticed the same thing about the fat Rattle Snakes. They have a tendency of having a bad disposition and will hold their ground. I have seen some with a black colored rattle and suspect they are a different Rattle Snake than the normal ones seen around here.

Years ago, when my folks were still living and lived down at Portland, Texas on the coast, we would often go to Mustang Island for a picnic. I learned to stay out of the sand dunes because of the Rattle Snakes living there. I remember one time that I ventured back there to use the bathroom and looked down and saw one about six or seven feet away from me, and then another one about ten feet away. Needless to say, I got out of there fast! Most of the ones that I have seen in the sand dunes are slimmer, not fat, and lighter in color which makes them harder to see. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Cupajo]

Hi Fred,

It's a good thing your son was alert and it's a blessing that he was spared!!

I can't think of any part of Texas that one can forget about the threat of poisonous snakes. Once in a while you hear about someone running into one in a grocery store where the snakes find mice etc. for food or are brought in with produce somehow.

I knew a young man years ago (maybe 50 years ago) that lived in Victoria, Texas who got bitten by a Cottonmouth. Their poison causes destruction of muscle and skin tissue and he nearly lost his foot by being bitten on the instep. He recovered quickly from the poison, but it kept on working on those tissues and really caused him serious damage. I don't know what the final out-come was as I was only visiting my Gramma at the time as a youngster, but I'll never forget the suffering that fellow lived with.

Outdoor Life Magazine had a story in the '60's about a fellow that was at hunting camp sleeping under the stars and woke up one chilly morning to the prospect of a snake in his sleeping bag!! The tale ended well with his hunting partner building a bonfire close-by and driving the snake out of the bag with heat.

It's a good thing the hunter didn't move any before he realized he had company in the bag too as it turned out to be a four and a half foot long Diamond Back!!

Many of is would die of heart failure under the stress of over an hour of sheer terror this guy experienced.

When I hear of such stories I am grateful that I have only had to learn about them without living them!!

CJ