I Should Have Died...

[+SevenFortyOne]

During our first attempt at this 4.5/4.5 night cache,Shroud of Shadows, Katydid and I aborted. We were well over a mile from the car when I fell in a bog at a chilly 25F. It's amazing how quickly hypothermia can set in. One of the cachers shortly after us had to call the paramedics for assistance. MS

 

While doing this same cache yesterday I had two close calls that both turned out to be nothing in the end. If you are ever in the vicinity of this cache and have the time, it is worth the adventure even if you don't finish it.

 

N1NUG's log for Shroud of Shadows

[ManicMechanicJoe]

My magellan almost killed a friend of mine the first time out today! I was out with two friends looking for our first cache with a brand new explorist. Heavy cloud cover, lots of tree cover and an accuracy of about 40 feet on the GPS.

 

The trail was a steep walk up a cliff side. Below the cliff was Highway 95 (rush hour traffic to boot). I would venture a geuss of about 50 feet from the cliff to the pavement. We got to the area where the GPSr told us the cache would be. My buddy (whose name happens to be Bud) decided he wanted a turn at the GPS... He took it and began looking while my other friend and I had a smoke. Bud though the cache may be off the trail and further up the cliff. It was fairly dark and the ground was covered in vines, trees, and loose rocks. He stepped on a loose rock and slid all the way back down to the trail (nearly off the cliff). A large rock fell with him and landed on the pavement below nearly hitting a car. After finding the cache we moved the rock off of the road. The local police saw us doing this and decided we were up to no good. They tried ticketing us even though we explained it was an accident.

 

Apparently no one in their right mind would waste time looking for something that has no monitary value. I am sure being teenagers (Two of us are 19, Bud is 17) didn't help us here. Almost makes me wish I bought a Garmin (are they any better?).

[+Adrenalynn]

>> My magellan almost killed a friend of mine the first time out today!

 

GPS' don't kill people, people kill themselves chasing arrows where commonsense tells 'em not to be.

 

Not that I'm not guilty of it now and again - just don't try to blame the GPS.

 

Or, like the guy a page back, who figures that someone dug that thar 10' hole in the trail and then put camo over it, just hoping someone would come along and fall into it - presumably so they could come back later and point and laugh, right before serving 20 years for attempted premeditated homicide. It amazes me how far people will go to keep from saying "I was being stupid when..." ...

 

[clip]

My own feeling and my experience (and I have caught rattlesnakes, many times, with my hands) is that rattlesnakes really just do not want to be bothered, and will only strike if they feel cornered or extrmely scared or alarmed.

 

As a long-time desert dweller and snake "aficionado" (amateur herpetologist) - I 110% agree with you, Vinny. A wonderful observation!

 

They have limited venom stores and production. The more they put into defense, the less they have for offense - ie. eating. They really don't want to waste it on you. They give the rattle and coil-up. Effectively: "Look, I don't want to kick your @ss, but I want you to know I can if I want to. So why don't you just go away and we'll all call it good?"

 

Of course, that doesn't mean they WON'T. Also depends on their mood and temperament. How long it's been since they've eaten last, etc. So don't mess with 'em. But they don't WANT to bite you.

 

There are other species of snake that DO want to bite you, however. The rattlers just aren't those..

 

Thanks, Vinny!

Edited April 10, 2006 by Adrenalynn

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

[clip]

My own feeling and my experience (and I have caught rattlesnakes, many times, with my hands) is that rattlesnakes really just do not want to be bothered, and will only strike if they feel cornered or extrmely scared or alarmed.

 

As a long-time desert dweller and snake "aficionado" (amateur herpetologist) - I 110% agree with you, Vinny. A wonderful observation!

 

They have limited venom stores and production. The more they put into defense, the less they have for offense - ie. eating. They really don't want to waste it on you. They give the rattle and coil-up. Effectively: "Look, I don't want to kick your @ss, but I want you to know I can if I want to. So why don't you just go away and we'll all call it good?"

 

Of course, that doesn't mean they WON'T. Also depends on their mood and temperament. How long it's been since they've eaten last, etc. So don't mess with 'em. But they don't WANT to bite you.

 

There are other species of snake that DO want to bite you, however. The rattlers just aren't those..

 

Thanks, Vinny!

 

Yes, I agree! Now, of course, I do want to point out that rattlers in general are more aggressive than copperheads, which tend to be extremely private and shy and would do anything to avoid biting a person. And, it is true that among rattlesnakes, the Western diamondback rattlesnake (and one other North American rattlesnake whose name I forget) has a reputation for being somewhat more aggressive than most other rattlers, but really, North American pit vipers really just want to be left alone.

[+Adrenalynn]

[clip]

My own feeling and my experience (and I have caught rattlesnakes, many times, with my hands) is that rattlesnakes really just do not want to be bothered, and will only strike if they feel cornered or extrmely scared or alarmed.

 

As a long-time desert dweller and snake "aficionado" (amateur herpetologist) - I 110% agree with you, Vinny. A wonderful observation!

 

They have limited venom stores and production. The more they put into defense, the less they have for offense - ie. eating. They really don't want to waste it on you. They give the rattle and coil-up. Effectively: "Look, I don't want to kick your @ss, but I want you to know I can if I want to. So why don't you just go away and we'll all call it good?"

 

Of course, that doesn't mean they WON'T. Also depends on their mood and temperament. How long it's been since they've eaten last, etc. So don't mess with 'em. But they don't WANT to bite you.

 

There are other species of snake that DO want to bite you, however. The rattlers just aren't those..

 

Thanks, Vinny!

 

Yes, I agree! Now, of course, I do want to point out that rattlers in general are more aggressive than copperheads, which tend to be extremely private and shy and would do anything to avoid biting a person. And, it is true that among rattlesnakes, the Western diamondback rattlesnake (and one other North American rattlesnake whose name I forget) has a reputation for being somewhat more aggressive than most other rattlers, but really, North American pit vipers really just want to be left alone.

 

Again, agreed!

 

The most aggressive snake I've met lately was a "little" 3ish foot Western terrestrial Garter though. Little guy struck my camera several times, after having hit my boot, and my hiking pole. He was a good six feet away and came OVER to harass me. You gotta wonder about the reptilian brain that goes out of its way to come pick on something that could squash it like a bug... Then again, if you read my edited post above, maybe you'd wonder less. . .

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

[clip]

My own feeling and my experience (and I have caught rattlesnakes, many times, with my hands) is that rattlesnakes really just do not want to be bothered, and will only strike if they feel cornered or extrmely scared or alarmed.

 

As a long-time desert dweller and snake "aficionado" (amateur herpetologist) - I 110% agree with you, Vinny. A wonderful observation!

 

They have limited venom stores and production. The more they put into defense, the less they have for offense - ie. eating. They really don't want to waste it on you. They give the rattle and coil-up. Effectively: "Look, I don't want to kick your @ss, but I want you to know I can if I want to. So why don't you just go away and we'll all call it good?"

 

Of course, that doesn't mean they WON'T. Also depends on their mood and temperament. How long it's been since they've eaten last, etc. So don't mess with 'em. But they don't WANT to bite you.

 

There are other species of snake that DO want to bite you, however. The rattlers just aren't those..

 

Thanks, Vinny!

 

Yes, I agree! Now, of course, I do want to point out that rattlers in general are more aggressive than copperheads, which tend to be extremely private and shy and would do anything to avoid biting a person. And, it is true that among rattlesnakes, the Western diamondback rattlesnake (and one other North American rattlesnake whose name I forget) has a reputation for being somewhat more aggressive than most other rattlers, but really, North American pit vipers really just want to be left alone.

 

Again, agreed!

 

The most aggressive snake I've met lately was a "little" 3ish foot Western terrestrial Garter though. Little guy struck my camera several times, after having hit my boot, and my hiking pole. He was a good six feet away and came OVER to harass me. You gotta wonder about the reptilian brain that goes out of its way to come pick on something that could squash it like a bug... Then again, if you read my edited post above, maybe you'd wonder less. . .

 

Yes! I have encountered many Eastern garter snakes that love to bite, although, of course, their bite is totally harmless- kinda like a scratch; I really love these snakes and almost very time I handle one of them, I get a half-dozen little love bites at first. And, of course, then there is the Hognose snake of North America, also nicknamed the Puff Adder or the Hissing Adder; hognose snakes will usually first try to bluff you and then some of them will start hissing and striking (before they roll over and play dead...) Of course, they are totally harmless and are very sweet creatures. Snakes are so sweet! I live in a wilderness area in the Appalachians on the East Coast, and just writing this makes me wanna go out in the mountains in my backyard and find a den full of rattlesnakes just coming out of hibernation, and hang out with them for the rest of the afternoon. By the way, there is a local wilderness cache dating back to 2001, located just less than two miles from our house, which is located a few feet from a rattlesnake den on a mountaintop.

[+Shop99er]

Snakes are so sweet!

 

AND..they make dandy belts!

[+MoxieMan]

haven't had a near death experiance caching...yet...but yesterday I was bushwacking my way around trying to look for a hanging micro (it had been moved because of muggles so a DNF!). The underbrush was pretty thick. I got stuck, well my shoe anyway. My sneaker laces got tangled in the growth. I had to slip my foot out and cut the branches away...and I've only been caching about 2 weeks now. If this is how it always is, I'm looking forward to the next ones!

[+Clothahump]

I was out after a cache that involved about a 3 mile round trip and two barbed wire crossings. Shortly after making the first crossing, I heard a loud snort and a wild boar broke from hiding less than 100 feet from me. He was about the size of an 18-wheeler. Well, maybe an SUV. Well, maybe about 1/2 the size of a VW Beetle. Fortunately, he wasn't interested in being territorial and ran away from me instead of at me. Unfortunately, he ran straight in the direction of the cache.

 

Needless to say, I was whistling and beating my stick against every tree I passed for the rest of the hike.