Snakes?

[k_statealan]

Had my first caching encounter with a snake last week. I parked along the side of the gravel road, got out of my car and walked around to the back side of the car to grab a TB out of the back seat. When I stepped around the corner, I saw a 3' snake less than a foot from where I stepped. Knowing that we have prairie rattlers and possible Diamondbacks out here in western Kansas, my thought immediately turned to that and I jumped backwared about 4 or 5 feet. I didn't know what it was, but when it slinked away into the grass I noticed it didn't have a tail with noisemakers (thank God). Wouldn't have been my first encounter with a rattler as I almost stepped on one about 5' long several years ago in Colorado, but a second chance wouldn't make me feel any more comfortable than I had then. I wish I had gotten that TB before the snake got away as it was a camera TB that eventually was to be returned to owner when the film was full. That would have made for a nice pic. So I logged the cache and drove down the road. 100 yards later I came across one of the same size lying in the road. Not surprising me this time I had my digital camera ready and snapped these pics.

 

I believe after some research that they were prairie kingsnakes. Harmless and pretty docile, but no less of a surprise when you almost step on it. This one politely sat still while I took pics then left when I was done.

[+the hermit crabs]

The snake we encountered this weekend was most likely harmless, but still was quite nerve-wracking. From the cache log:

 

"We had a startling experience there -- while we were kneeling on the ground examining the cache and signing the log, we saw and heard something scurrying through the ferns straight toward us. It seemed to be half running, half hopping; we were guessing it was maybe a vole. But when it came into view, we saw that it was a snake (since when do snakes hop??). It climbed right into a hermit crab's LAP, and then turned around and slithered away again. That caused a couple of missed heartbeats! "

[Gary the Possum]

Ran into this guy on the trail on my way to the Virgin Falls Cache in Tennessee last year.

 

Edited June 30, 2005 by Gary the Possum

[+MtnRubi]

Ran into this guy today doing (GCKW4J The old HAWS Radio cache

 

Needless to say, I DIDN'T get to sign that log..

 

Full size pic at http://coppermine.justageek.net/displayima...d=45&fullsize=1

[+Skippy and Pingu]

We've been walking in the UK for years and never seen our only poisonous snake. That is until this summer whilst out caching we saw 2 adders in 5 mins.

 

 

We're now a bit concerned about our planned trip down under. Think we'll be taking sticks to retrieve caches there. Think you have to worry about spiders as well there.

[+KKTH3]

I really REALLY need to get myself a walking stick. Lately I have been spotting all kinds of snakes - or evidence of snakes. One of the first caches I placed was in a city park - nicely mowed and manicured, yet I almost stepped right on a snake in the lawn. Another cache I hunted down seemed fine and I didn't see any problems but checking the logs one of the people that found it shortly after I did took a photograph of a Prarie Rattlesnake coiled up ON the cache. Then during another one of my cache hiding runs I found a great area to place an ammo box, but as I approached I stepped over 2 separate snakeskins. The second was about 3 feet long that I could see, had the rattle at the end, and possibly was longer as it went into a hole. I didn't poke my head up to the hole to check for sure. Anyway, I am afraid I only haphazardly hid the cache as I really did not care to stick my hands too deep in places I could not see. Soon I should do a maintenence run back up there and spend better time with a walking stick to make sure the area is clear and then get the cache properly covered like I had intended.

[+shawhh]

just a plea to everyone to not kill every snake you see, poisonous and nonpoisonous. they truly have a place in the natural world. here in north carolina i have had many encounters with rattlesnakes, cottonmouth moccasins, and copperheads and contrary to popular myth none of these has shown any aggression towards me. watch where you reach and where you step and you'll likely never be bitten. probably the quickest way to be bitten is to aggravate or try to handle a snake. just enjoy the sighting, step around them and be on your way. thanks. -harry

[+Marcie/Eric]

Amen to that ^^.

 

The only animal I viciously fill are black widows.

 

I've encountered a rattlesnakes, and various other benign snakes-- but in all my travels they've always pretty much ignored me.

[+geospyder]

Here's one I found today!

 

[+crazyone]

I was at an multi in pa(frog hole) when after signing the log on the final. I had stepped on the smallest garder snake i ever saw. I swear he wasn't there a few minute ago,yes i did a uggh and boogied real quick till i saw it was just only about 6 inches. I'm glad nobody saw me or it would have been very embarrassing.

[+edscott]

I found snake in Rural Eastern NC.

 

Not something I want to repeat... I still want to go after cache though. It was long and blue and black and green, but no one believes me. Might have been eastern rattler.

 

Not sure

Blue & Green???? Sure it didn't have legs tucked up underneath.. ie a lizard?.. certainly not a Timber Rattler which is the one found in that area. Garter snakes have a green tint as well as the smooth and rough grass snakes. But no blue.

[zormsk]

Living and hiking in northern PA and now Arkansas just means you ARE going to encounter snakes. Here in AR, copperheads are the most common species of venomous snake, but I've only seen one since moving here in 2003 and no rattlers. Now cottonmouths (Water Mocasins) are something else.

 

In summer, I probably see one or two every week. It is very common to encounter them sunning on trails. I usually stop and watch them (like watching paint dry) for a while and then use a stick to gently urge them off the trail. My fear is they might get run over by a bike or maybe stoned by a frightened trail user. Because young kids are on these trails too, they could pose a danger to them if accidentally stepped on.

 

Down here, the operating premise is "If it slithers, it dies." Too bad, because I have found none of these snakes to be aggressive in the least. I've even poked them with a stick and they don't get excited. The one cool thing about a cottonmouth is seeing its "cotton" mouth!

 

Next time you find one, hold your hand above their heads (a couple of feet above) and they will "gape" at you. This is their way of saying: "Your starting to p*ss me off."

 

During that time, you can see the white lining and their fairly awesome fangs. As soon as you remove your hand (Ok, or your stick), they settle right back down.

 

Here's one I photographed gaping while it sunbathed on a bike trail in central AR:

 

cottonmouth pix

 

I moved him off the trail after the photo shoot.

 

Hey, enjoy them. They really aren't out to get you...

[The 2 Dogs]

I once had three snakes fall off a rock ledge and land at my feet. I was returning from placing the appropriately named "Snakes and Ladders" cache not far from my back door. The three snakes consisted of 2 large Red Belly Blacks and 1 smaller Eastern Brown. The little Eastern Brown was the most worrying as they can be quite aggressive and are very deadly indeed. The blacks tend to be more timid. I'm sorry if I didn't hang around to get a photo.

 

I won't go into it too much other than to say that Australia is home to 8 out the 10 most deadly snakes in the world. I have encounterd many of them over the years but what is more disturbing is that most of the sightings have been while geocaching in built up (suburban) areas.

 

At home we keep the wire screen doors shut, especially at night, so as not to have a close encounter of the slithery kind in our bedroom.

[+KirklandExplorers]

This summer I found a cache with my Dad in the Badlands of North Dakota. It was prime territory for rattlesnakes so we were watching and listening for them like good scouts from the past. After I dug the cache out from under a tall rock I noticed next to it there was a rattlesnake skins sitting next to the box Needless to say we stuffed the cache back in under the rock and took off! I always hated find the skins because that means the snake is in a mean mood if it lost it recently.

[+Thrak]

Found rattlesnakes near two caches recently. Not at the cache but nearby. I came within 10 inches of stepping on the head of one of them. The second one I saw just today. I had to climb down a small bank and had two ways to go. I didn't take one of the choices because I hate going over large rocks when I don't know what will be under them next to where my feet have to land. Good thing for me I feel that way because that is exactly where the rattler was today.

[+Klemmer]

We see quite a few in Southern California. Probably 3 - 4 times a year, wih a fair amount of hiking / caching / benchmarking in wilderness areas. Gotta be careful out there. We even have rattlesnake CONDOS out here! After my two logs on GCPW6Z, the cache owner decided (wisely) to relocate the cache.

 

Here's one of the condo blocks. More pics and dicussion on the cache page:

 

Saw them outside their condo yesterday, but couldn't get a picture. These were BIG rattlers!

[+Tsmola]

I know this topic is kinda old, this happened to me on only my 3rd cache find, and the funny part about it is the name of the cache:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...4d-15459749e91c

[Bjornian]

when I did race ot the top I saw a lot of snakes (30 or 40) on my travels but they were all a distance from me. One area I saw what had to be a family of snakes (there were 10 of the exact same snake of diffrent sizes in that area).

[+Ballooner]

I had a snake encounter at this cache. See my pics and posting here. The micro is inside a rubber rat. Although I know that snakes hunt by smell and heat, the cache container, the aforementioned rubber rat, had its face chewed up. Soooooo???

[+Colorado Cacher]

ALWAYS watch were your stepping. I have so far not stepped on three rattlers directly below my feet while caching.

 

Even advised one guy to walk around the trail when he didnt see the snake.

 

Then I had an idea; Why didnt I watch his reaction to stepping on the snake instead? But then again I have a conscience and just couldnt do it.

[Team Firebird]

I have seen a vary large(6 feet) cotton mouth about 8 inches from my leg. I didnt see him, and he shot into the lake and was gone in a second.

[+Cocacola1820]

Gantry69, M&M girl and I saw this one crossing as we neared a cache in the Ocala Nat'l Forest.

 

[+shawhh]

nice eastern diamondback. cool pic. -harry

[+Dynamic Duet]

Wow look at all those snakes I hardly even saw mine

I was caching in the hills over Concord CA. I was on my bike and had grabbed a couple on the way up the trail (even hid one). The trail was a little too steep so I dumped my bike beside the trail and walked the last 500' "El Calle.. . . ."GCPW7P. The coords took me to a rock beside the trail and I reached over to grab beneath - it felt like someone had poked a sharp stick into my fingers - I looked and saw a snake moving away under the grass. I called 911 and they put me on hold I walked back to my bike and called 911 again - on hold I got on my bike and coasted down the hill - about 1.5 miles. At the parking lot a worker put my bike on my Jeep and directed me to the firehouse/paramedics - about a block away - I went there, it was closed . I started driving towards the nearest hospital - 5 - 6 miles. Enroute I flagged another car at a stop light and told him what happened and requested he follow me to emergency - he did (he had a great story at dinner that night)- by this time my body was tingling all over and I didn't know what was going to happen and when. They made short work of the IV's at emergencey and had me tubed up in no time. I spent that night in intesive care and the following night on the ward. They gave me 16 vials of anti-venom and I was there for 2 days - the antivenom was $1,000 per vial and for 2 days at $2,000 = $20,000 - therefore I named the cache I placed on the way up the "Twenty Thousand Dollar Cache" - and the nice part is that the owner of El Calle was able to make FTF on the $20K cache - sorry no pics - and all is well that ends well