BajaNomad - RATTLESNAKE Encounters!

RATTLESNAKE Encounters!

DavidE - 7-21-2012 at 09:03 AM

Rattlesnakes usually start appearing around April or May then go into hibernation around November. Not an exact science. On a week's beach camping in the summer months, how many rattlers would you expect to detect (see, hear, etc.)?

JZ - 7-21-2012 at 09:09 AM

I do a lot of hiking in SoCal. In late Spring you might see one 1 of 4 times out. The rest of the year not so much.

Ateo - 7-21-2012 at 09:40 AM

Never saw one till I rolled over a log on the side of the house at 5th Point Scorpion Bay. A baby rattler was chilling in the shade.

Saw 2 rattlers in Joshua Tree late March.

All of the above were babies.

My wife killed the one at Scorp against my wishes.

TMW - 7-21-2012 at 10:31 AM

Before I retired I would see rattlesnakes at least 2 to 3 times a year on the road going up the mountain to our site, ome pretty big. In Mexico I've seen them at various locations. Before a Baja 500 race if it rained there would be lots of snakes, not rattlers, on the road from Valle La Trinidad to hwy 1. None of the rattlesnakes I've come across were aggressive, usually moved away when they detected me.

astrobaja - 7-21-2012 at 11:16 AM

We see 5-6 a year, they are more frequent at lower elevations (we are at 5K feet) Usually its the dark charcoal grey viridis species. Bad thing about them is that they do not always rattle! So best to be aware of where you step!

AndyP - 7-21-2012 at 12:40 PM

On a rafting trip in Idaho once a friend could not stop talking about his fear of rattlers after a close encounter a couple weeks earlier on a hiking trip. Of course a couple nights later he was in his tent and felt movement under the tent floor, you can guess what it was. He killed the snake, which I felt was wrong, but the guy was freaking out beyond belief.

Haven't seen one in Baja which is fine by me.

woody with a view - 7-21-2012 at 01:16 PM

never seen one "on the beach". lotsa rattlers in the foothills of baja. i leave them alone...

Cypress - 7-21-2012 at 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AndyP
On a rafting trip in Idaho once a friend could not stop talking about his fear of rattlers, the guy was freaking out beyond belief

:biggrin
A full grown Cotton Mouth will send him into the twilight zone. A big cotton mouth water moccasin is a wonder to behold; big, bad and very aggressive! It'll eat all those little rattle snakes for a snack! :yes:

baitcast - 7-21-2012 at 03:09 PM

Month ago my wife opened the front door and nearly stepped on a big Coontail aka Diamondback,two years ago The same happened to me in the garage only it was a Mohave Green.two more in the back yard,damn things are all over this place,my wife wants to move into town but they are there as well :lol:

Rob

Don't Even Wanna See A Cottonmouth That Can Eat This!

DavidE - 7-21-2012 at 03:22 PM

[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_a-4Q6ZCwqkY/SmaG1boBLAI/AAAAAAAAAQc/mS21LwLEdEU/s400/Rattlesnake+S+TX.jpg[/img]

Vince - 7-21-2012 at 05:31 PM

Rattlesnake encounter: In 1974 I completed building an adobe house in an area with no structures ever before (Now Rancho Valencia). A year or so later a mousetrap went off in the bedroom at night while asleep. I looked at it with a flashlight and there was a 3 foot rattlesnake caught in it. I thought he was dead or near dead so I used a coat hanger to remove him, but he pulled his head out of the trap,coiled and filled the room with a loud rattle noise. I had to kill him in place. We probably walked past that snake several times that night before he was caught in the trap. There were several other encounters after that including one of the dogs being bitten on the nose, head swelled to size of soccer ball, saved by antivenom. They were there first. We try to avoid them.

Ateo - 7-21-2012 at 05:45 PM

The rattlesnake at Scorpion Bay...........don't ever go there............there a literally billions of these buggers everywhere!!! :big grin:

Ateo - 7-21-2012 at 05:50 PM

And like I said, my wife killed it -- against my wishes. We could've just tossed it into the bushes. Next time I'll do that before she has a chance to get her gloves and shovel.

Sorry.....

Floatflyer - 7-21-2012 at 08:44 PM

2 recent encounters. I was walking out of my kitchen where I have to duck under the door jamb, happen to look down and there he was, coiled and ready to launch, one more step and, good night!

This past Thanksgiving after we returned from dinner, we walked into our place and I turned on a light and still with flashlight in hand I walked into what passes as a living room. There heading towards our couch was a 30" + rattler!!!!!

Golden rule around our place is that you NEVER put your foot on the floor at night without a flashlight and during the day you just have to expect to see a snake. Have taken our 2 yr old mutt to snake avoidance training twice, hope that it works.

watizname - 7-21-2012 at 09:10 PM

Wood piles, rock piles, garbage left too long, any place where rats or mice breed will bring snakes. Keep things cleaned up, and that reduces the chances for snakes. If they invade my space, they go to the big rats nest in the sky. I will tolerate non poisonous snakes, but usually when you see them around your place, you should start looking for the signs of mice and rats too. But snakes that can hurt ya--- I don't lik'em, and don't give'em a chance to bite me or mine.

nbacc - 7-22-2012 at 07:00 AM

Our driveway in Redding yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fish101 - 7-22-2012 at 07:26 AM

Rattlesnake spotted in Juancalito (just south of Loreto Bay) a few days ago by one of our Washington neighbors.

Pacifico - 7-22-2012 at 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
The rattlesnake at Scorpion Bay...........don't ever go there............there a literally billions of these buggers everywhere!!! :big grin:

Pretty little guy!

Ateo - 7-22-2012 at 11:57 AM

Very colorful and quite cool looking. Coiled up he couldn't have been more than 3" in diameter.

Quote:

Originally posted by Pacifico

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
The rattlesnake at Scorpion Bay...........don't ever go there............there a literally billions of these buggers everywhere!!! :big grin:

Pretty little guy!

Neal Johns - 7-22-2012 at 07:21 PM

In Baja hiking, we occasionally come across a rattlesnake but one time on the west coast the group camped in a wide washy area and everyone spread out to collect wood for the campfire. Several people found rattlesnakes in the first few minutes. We moved camp. :lol:

In Lytle Creek a couple of weeks ago we passed our handyman on his bike and noticed a gopher snake wrapped around his arm. We pulled over 100 feet in front of him to check out the gopher snake (I have a bad case of Herpes

)

and when I stepped out of the passenger side of the truck, there was an unconcerned rattlesnake two feet away. I got back in the truck. :lol:

Terry28 - 7-22-2012 at 07:46 PM

Scorpion bay, in the old days was called "rattlesnake beach" I guess scorpion bay sounded more romantic!!