My friend David had a business trip out to Phoenix and I decided to tag along. This morning we went for a walk up to the Sears-Kay Ruin. As we prepared for the 10-minute stroll through the desert, his wife asked me “Do you think there are rattlesnakes up here?” I replied confidently that there was no need to worry because the trail was so heavily traveled.
When we got to the top, a local pointed out a 5′-long rattlesnake in the brush just a few feet from the trail. “We had one about that size in our garage in North Scottsdale,” he noted. “I pulled him out of the garage with a rake, but he just kept wanting to go back in. So I shot him with a .22.”
Other wildlife seen on the walk: An Arizona Giant Centipede (venomous, of course), a bunny, a few lizards, and a German Shorthaired Pointer (whose presence caused the rattlesnake to activate his rattle).
Was your confidence misplaced, or was it some kind of mutant snake? You have always struck me as the kind of guy who knows what he knows, and also what he doesn’t know.
Thanks Phil! Sometimes I get wanderlusty and think, gosh it’d be great to get out of the midwest and try AZ, then inevitably something like this pops up and makes 6 feet of snow and a few floods seem so reasonable!!
If you find the subject of rattlesnakes at all interesting then you should go here:
http://www.amazon.com/Salvation-Sand-Mountain-Redemption-Appalachia/dp/0306818361/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270480110&sr=8-1
Jeffrey: Thanks for your confidence. I have spent quite a few months in the desert Southwest over the years and have never previously seen a rattlesnake. And I think it is generally true that they avoid the well-traveled paths. But Phoenicians later told me that this has been one of the wettest winters on record and the snake population is at an all-time high. But on balance probably this incident shows what I don’t know!
When I lived in Thailand for a while we had a snake (don’t know what kind it was but it was HUGE) in our second kitchen, lying there peacefully asleep. Not knowing what to do, and panicking a little I must admit, I called my neighbor who took a big stick, charged into the kitchen and chased the snake away. I’m sure he would have killed it if it stayed put… In the two years I was there I only saw 2 live snakes (and I’m very grateful for it). But I heard all sorts of stories of giant snakes, and rattle snakes, cobras and what nots… Now I’m in New Zealand for a little while and we don’t have any snakes here at all… bliss.