Mt Whitney Zone Forums The Chat Room Talk about snakes!

I did not think that rattlesnakes would be found at that altitude due to the cool climate - global warming???



Edit: Separated the snake discussion from the Portal Family Campground thread.

I've seen them as high as 9,000 and 10,000 feet in the summer in Death Valley, Canyonlands and Bryce Canyon. Best to always assume they're around. As long as it's warm enough to survive, they go where their prey goes.

The rattlesnake comment is for the Lone Pine Campground at 5800' elev, not Whitney Portal:

Click the '-' on the map below to zoom out one click, to see the elevation contours (or click here to get a larger view).


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Snakies are not allowed anywhere near the Portal, per the agreement I have with the Mountain Gods.

So now you are making deals with God. Figures.

Don't we all make deals of one kind or another with God?

I know when i was unable to get out & move, I was doing serious talking.

If the Moose has asked for no snakies - that's her deal. I'd like no stupid campers that don't know how to use bear boxes and leave all their food strung all over camp, but then meh... what can you do?

Correct, Steve! Sorry, Bulldog.

Yes, them rattlers are prevalent at 5,000 feet. I have seen rattlers at 7,000 feet on the trail up to Half Dome past Little Yosemite Valley.

If you catch and kill, they do make a great addition to ramen noodles. Almost like chicken noodle soup. The rattlers make great rearview mirror ornaments.

They also make great pavement decoration. I had the dubious distinction of being bitten by a Timber Rattler 23 years ago. I'd love to share a manly story of how I was deep in the wilderness, mano-a-mano with this 8-foot monster, but the truth is I was getting my mail when the SOB struck me, and he may have been 3 feet. Too damn absorbed in flipping through bills, etc. to have my antennae go up at that buzz. I turned to head back to the house, still perusing the mail, and he nailed me. He was coiled in a flower bed right by the mailbox.

Fortunately, he hit me low around the ankle, so there wasn't a lot of venom injection. First rule of snakebite? Stay calm. Right. All I could think of was, "the hospital needs to be sure of the species so they can administer the right antivenin. This snake cannot get away. Snake, you're dead." I threw the stack of mail - which included a fairly heavy express package - on top of the little $H%T and proceeded to jump up and down on him with both feet, cursing at the top of my lungs, till I had a nice red mess. To this day I wonder what the neighbors must have thought . . .

I scooped up the snake tartar, threw it in the floorboard of my car, and drove my "calm" self to the hospital, where I walked in to the ER, presented my evidence pretty forcefully to the poor nurse, and insisted heatedly that my life be saved immediately. This was a Friday afternoon in November, and Georgia was playing Auburn the next day, and I had tickets dammit!

Long story short, a night of observation, some nausea and swelling, no anti-venin necessary. Early Saturday morning the doc suggested I stay a second night, but I explained my priorities and how traffic was already building to that fever pitch between Atlanta and Athens, and kickoff was at 1:00 sharp. Period. See ya'.

The point being, ever since that little adventure I've had a pretty sensitive Rattler Radar. Cottonmouth and Copperhead radar too, come to think of it. I recall playing golf at a course in San Antonio a few years ago (The Quarry), which had signs all over warning golfers not to go beyond the rough into the rocks searching for balls due to rattlers. I saw at least 50 different rattlers lazing around in the rocks during the 18 holes, and I wasn't even trying hard. When we finished, the other 3 guys in my foursome laughed long and hard about the scary signs but no snakes anywhere . . .

Great story..... I won't be able to sleep tonight, now.

I do a lot (well I used to) trail running and over the years have seen my share of rattlers. Luckily, no strikes. There was one time though, while running the PCT near Agua Dulce, I was running through a section of quite dense vegetation and jumped in mid air since my foot was going to land smack on his head. I never thought I could jump mid air.

Paul

"...I threw the stack of mail - which included a fairly heavy express package - on top of the little $H%T and proceeded to jump up and down on him with both feet, cursing at the top of my lungs, till I had a nice red mess. To this day I wonder what the neighbors must have thought..."

Bulldog34, great story!

I got a visual. I would do the same thing maybe with a few more expletives!

Glad you made it to the game!

I used to hike a lot in the Santa Monicas. Prime rattler (& Poison Oak) territory.

As you know, there is some genetic variation in everything, and apparently also in rattle buzz volume. (Some go up to 11).

So in the park, the noisy rattlers are killed by the (stupid) hikers and the quiet ones go undisturbed.

Guess where this unnatural selection is taking us?

Well, I didn't actually say that I made it to the game. There's a postscript. When I got home that Saturday morning to shower, change clothes and head for Athens, I had a welcoming committee of friends and employees who had heard about my little misadventure. Between all the oh-how-terribles, tell-me-about-its and can-I-see-its, I would have never made the 60 miles to Athens by even halftime (takes over 3 hours to do that 60 miles, along with about 90,000 of your closest friends). We watched the game at my house, my barely-swollen ankle propped on several pillows at the insistence of the group, while I was waited on hand and foot. "Gary, want another beer?", "Gary, can I bring you some nachos?", "Gary, where's the grill?"

As I recall, we lost the game - but I didn't seem to mind that much . . .

What some people will do to get a little attention!!!

Now, if I can get my wife to get me a beer and nachos and cook me a big fat steak.

Ouch...(cyber pinch from wifey pooh)

Great story Bulldog. Sorry but I would have made that game somehow.I live on 2 2/3 acres in a canyon in Santa Clarita, SoCal.I have had to eradicate rattle snakes off the property every year for the 20+ years I have lived here.Sorry PETA. No one other than by beloved springer spaniel(2X) has ever been bit thank God.There are so many stories of close calls and scary moments of walking right by coiled rattle snakes by me and my kids to write a horror book.I have HUGE rattle snake radar and though I calmly deal with them most of the time they scare the shit out of me every time I encounter one.It is not true that I have frequently been seen running screaming like a girl looking for the shovel.

BTW Bulldog if you don't know who to root for today between Cincy and Pitt root for Pitt. My son played for them in 2004 and 2005.He was the starting PK and was All Big East both years.

Sad, isn't it? Did I mention that most of the group ministering to my poor, snakebit self were attractive young women, and at the time I was late-twenties and single? Did I leave that part out?

I have a real hard time pulling for Pitt, Rod - they've cost my Bulldogs two national championships in the past ('76 and '81) - but I'll give it a shot. I think Cincy's over-rated anyway.

Santa Clarita is a late-lunch stop for our family when we visit the western Sierra and do the Yosemite/Kings/Sequoia thing. We stay in Fresno (Hi Steve) and daytrip. We typically get into LAX by 9:00 or 10:00, get the rental car, hit a Wal-Mart for supplies and are on the road for Fresno before noon. Santa Clarita is a perfect stop to eat before we get very far into the Central Valley. We've eaten at that McDonald's off of I-5 near Six Flags several times. Every time through there, our daughter excitedly wants to stop and spend a day at Six Flags, seeming to forget that she's a regular at the Six Flags a dozen miles from our home.

I can't imagine living around so many rattlers, Rod! That would scare the bejeezus out of me with the kids. That's precisely why I have a Marlin .22 - snakes. The terrain is very hilly in the northern metro ATL - basically foothills for the Blue Ridge mountains - so regardless of the density and sprawl, there are creeks and streams everywhere. Therefore varmints, therefore snakes. Many, many copperheads (they're extremely hardy and like roaches - hard to make a dent in the population) and fewer rattlers (usually Timber rattlers - Eastern Diamondbacks, the really dangerous ones, are generally south of Atlanta). Pus the very rare cottonmouth/water moccasin, which is almost completely wiped out in the metro area - just fine by me, as these have always scared the crap outta me. PETA be damned on that subject!

Did your springer survive the bites?

Funny you should mention Pitt vs Bulldogs they are showing the 1977 Pitt-Georgia Sugar Bowl which Pitt won 27-3 on ESPN Classic.
We are mourning a tough tough loss today as Cincy beat Pitt 45-44 on a missed dropped hold for the PAT with a 1:26 seconds to assure at least a worse case OT game.Pitt had a 21 point lead they blew in adddition. We are sick around here.I guess my son is still a member of the last Pitt team to win the Big East in 2004.
I could go outside and catch barehanded a rattlesnake right now.

I've run across some of the biggest Rattlers I've ever seen hiking and running in the Santa Monicas near Mulholland Drive, right near all the mansions.
My wife works with DFG and runs into them pretty often, some really big. She's never had a problem, but wears leather boot gaiters. The biggest ratter she ran across while working was one near Riverside. She said it was laying on a rock, then left when it saw her. She was curious and went back later to find it laying on a very large boulder. She stayed for a while and photographed it. She estimated it to be near 6 feet, which would be the biggest of the species (I don't remember which species.) It had 13 rattles!
Here's a pic of her snake:



Here's a pic of one her partner ran into. It wasn't as friendly as seen in her photo. She almost ran into it and had enough time to take her camera out for this shot:



My field trail German Shorthaired Pointer was killed by a rattler years ago, during competition, when she stopped to point and was struck in the tongue. She suffocated.

That was the '76 season I was referring to. I do NOT need to see that game again. Too much Tony Dorsett. The other season, '81, UGA lost a squeaker, and possible national title repeat, to Pitt in the Sugar Bowl. Dan Marino did us in that time, even though Herschel ran wild. I do not think warm, fuzzy thoughts when I think of Pitt.

That being said, the Pitt program's suffered badly for years, so I'm a bit more sympathetic now. I watched the final 10 minutes of the game today and knew - without a doubt - that the outcome was decided when the holder muffed the extra point, even with Pitt up 6 points and time running down. Tough loss, especially with the conference on the line. They may be 12-0, but I still think Cincy is over-rated.

And I like the helmet design Pitt has gone to the last couple of years. Cursive should never be on a real football helmet (are you listening Gators?). UCLA possible exception.