Snake encounter, that was closer than I’d like.
#51
Randomhead
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I actually pushed a baby rattlesnake off of one of our streets last year. Not by picking it up, mind you, wouldn't be prudent. Rude little thing. I really didn't want to see a smashed baby rattlesnake for the rest of the summer. I ride on that street a lot. It's right by a creek, so I assume mom was nearby.
I expect there are predators that kill them.
I expect there are predators that kill them.
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#53
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#54
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The shape of the head is the give away. Pit vipers tend to have heart shaped heads which are wider at the back of the head where it attaches to the neck. Constrictors which are often confused for rattle snakes have a longer, narrower head. Here in Colorado we have three kinds of rattlesnakes…the prairie rattlesnake, the Western rattlesnake and the massasauga rattlesnake. They all have similar patterns on their skin.
You can see the different head shapes in these two snakes. This one is a prairie rattler. Not the very wide jaw
This is a bull snake. Similar skin pattern but the head is longer and less wide at the back. Bull snakes here also have a wonderful mimic ability. They will coil just like a rattlesnake…you can see the similar position of both snakes. They also shake the end of their tail and make a hissing sound that is unnervingly like the rattle of a rattle snake. It’s a very effective defense mechanism. They will also strike like a rattlesnake…personal experience…and their teeth are abrasive but they haven’t got fangs.
The rattlesnake is the one that I spooked in my post above. I left him alone. The bull snake below was on a bicycle path in Denver. I shooed it off the path so that it would get run over. He hissed and shook his tail at me the whole time. Still unnerving.
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#55
Saw this yellow-bellied racer in SD. Lived up to his name. He was really fast.
This eastern water snake seen during a long weekend bike trip to NJ was fascinated with us. It kept following us as we walked along the bank of the Delaware River at the campground.
Last edited by indyfabz; 04-06-24 at 10:21 AM.
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#57
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First time I saw a snake happily scooting across the water surface I thought it was cheating of the highest order. Where's an eagle when you need one?
#58
Randomhead
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I have seen raptors eating a snake when out riding on a gravel road near here. Another time, I was riding my mountain bike once and saw the shadow of a big bird holding a snake, and then it dropped it. My interpretation was that it tried to drop it on me after misinterpreting my helmet as a big rock. I didn't see the snake hit, so I don't know how close it really was. That area is perfect for snakes, lots of low vegetation.
I have seen eagles about 10 miles from here, but I don't know if they have expanded to be closer to our house. We have lots of hawks though. Not sure they would bother with a baby rattler, hardly a mouthful. Apparently some other snakes eat small rattlesnakes.
Interestingly, baby rattlers don't have to eat for their first year. Not sure what they would catch, bugs?
I have seen eagles about 10 miles from here, but I don't know if they have expanded to be closer to our house. We have lots of hawks though. Not sure they would bother with a baby rattler, hardly a mouthful. Apparently some other snakes eat small rattlesnakes.
Interestingly, baby rattlers don't have to eat for their first year. Not sure what they would catch, bugs?
#59
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The “pits” in pit vipers are in front of the jaw. They are located on the head between the eyes and the nostrils and are slightly smaller than the eyes. They are heat sensing organs.
The shape of the head is the give away. Pit vipers tend to have heart shaped heads which are wider at the back of the head where it attaches to the neck. Constrictors which are often confused for rattle snakes have a longer, narrower head. Here in Colorado we have three kinds of rattlesnakes…the prairie rattlesnake, the Western rattlesnake and the massasauga rattlesnake. They all have similar patterns on their skin.
You can see the different head shapes in these two snakes. This one is a prairie rattler. Not the very wide jaw
This is a bull snake. Similar skin pattern but the head is longer and less wide at the back. Bull snakes here also have a wonderful mimic ability. They will coil just like a rattlesnake…you can see the similar position of both snakes. They also shake the end of their tail and make a hissing sound that is unnervingly like the rattle of a rattle snake. It’s a very effective defense mechanism. They will also strike like a rattlesnake…personal experience…and their teeth are abrasive but they haven’t got fangs.
The rattlesnake is the one that I spooked in my post above. I left him alone. The bull snake below was on a bicycle path in Denver. I shooed it off the path so that it would get run over. He hissed and shook his tail at me the whole time. Still unnerving.
The shape of the head is the give away. Pit vipers tend to have heart shaped heads which are wider at the back of the head where it attaches to the neck. Constrictors which are often confused for rattle snakes have a longer, narrower head. Here in Colorado we have three kinds of rattlesnakes…the prairie rattlesnake, the Western rattlesnake and the massasauga rattlesnake. They all have similar patterns on their skin.
You can see the different head shapes in these two snakes. This one is a prairie rattler. Not the very wide jaw
This is a bull snake. Similar skin pattern but the head is longer and less wide at the back. Bull snakes here also have a wonderful mimic ability. They will coil just like a rattlesnake…you can see the similar position of both snakes. They also shake the end of their tail and make a hissing sound that is unnervingly like the rattle of a rattle snake. It’s a very effective defense mechanism. They will also strike like a rattlesnake…personal experience…and their teeth are abrasive but they haven’t got fangs.
The rattlesnake is the one that I spooked in my post above. I left him alone. The bull snake below was on a bicycle path in Denver. I shooed it off the path so that it would get run over. He hissed and shook his tail at me the whole time. Still unnerving.
I did see one that was much darker, almost black. One day a hawk flew over me carrying a rattler about 3 feet long. I was riding in a local canyon and 2 rattlers were wrestling next to the road in what I assume was a mating ritual. A bunch of cars stopped and people got out to watch.
We have Red Racers on a bike path near here. I came around a turn and one was across the path in front of me. I was able to jump over him and I asked some walkers if I cleared the snake. Yep.
#60
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Most of the rattlers I see in Southern California look like this.
I did see one that was much darker, almost black. One day a hawk flew over me carrying a rattler about 3 feet long. I was riding in a local canyon and 2 rattlers were wrestling next to the road in what I assume was a mating ritual. A bunch of cars stopped and people got out to watch.
We have Red Racers on a bike path near here. I came around a turn and one was across the path in front of me. I was able to jump over him and I asked some walkers if I cleared the snake. Yep.
I did see one that was much darker, almost black. One day a hawk flew over me carrying a rattler about 3 feet long. I was riding in a local canyon and 2 rattlers were wrestling next to the road in what I assume was a mating ritual. A bunch of cars stopped and people got out to watch.
We have Red Racers on a bike path near here. I came around a turn and one was across the path in front of me. I was able to jump over him and I asked some walkers if I cleared the snake. Yep.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#61
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Funny you should mention that. I have done a good amount of bike touring in Montana and don't recall ever seeing a snake. Bears, elk, deer, moose, foxes, pronghorns, sandhill cranes, loons, pelicans, a giant jackrabbit, a ptarmigan, marmots, countless osprey, bald eagles and even a badger, but never a snake.
If your touring took you on Hi Way 2 across Northern Montana you likely went through my home town of Chinook, home of the Sugarbeeters
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#62
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Luckily no deadly snakes west of the Cascade mountain range, but lots of Boas. Most are quite small and enjoy sunning themselves on trails and tarmac during the summer. I see plenty of them squashed and have inadvertently run over more than a dozen with my bike over the years. Don’t see them until it is too late. I always feel bad since they are such good rodent control.
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#63
IIRC, it's also the self-proclaimed mosquito capital of the state.
Kids mugging for a photo in Chinook.
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#64
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#69
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glad we don't have rattlers in my area
it's Spring & love is in the air
it's Spring & love is in the air
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#70
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Bites to cyclists
The only significantpedaling. I recall to be experienced by a cyclist was a guy in India who was bitten on the crotch by a snake that had coiled up under the saddle clinging to the rails. It apparently felt threatened when the rder jumped on the bike and began pedalling.. As I recall it was a krait a venomous species. So quit worrying about rattlers.
#71
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I had to dodge a rattler while descending Mt Hamilton last Wednesday.
It was the first really warm day in a while, and the rattler was basking on the asphalt, stretched out across about half my lane. He was a big fella.
Mind went: "snake", "adjust line to miss", "phew, no harm done" ... "whoa, that was a BIG snake".
It was the first really warm day in a while, and the rattler was basking on the asphalt, stretched out across about half my lane. He was a big fella.
Mind went: "snake", "adjust line to miss", "phew, no harm done" ... "whoa, that was a BIG snake".
#72
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We have garter snakes. Not venomous, but they can musk (smear some severely stanky goo all over you that doesn't wash off) and give you a painful bite. So beware! I haven't watched this vid; I hope it's good.
#73
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Snake encounter, that was closer than I’d like.
Lived along the western U.S. coastal ranges for decades, back when. Plenty of poisonous snakes in those spots, particularly in "the hills." Plenty of distance running and cycling, though other than once when I was growing up I can't recall having had an on-trail encounter.
Neat critters. Am very happy they seem to keep away from me.
Counting my lucky stars, I am.
#74
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This guy was not interested in leaving the trail despite two mountain bikes thumping downhill toward it. I came up with the brilliant idea to throw a rock to bounce a couple feet in front of it to spook it off the trail. My aim was so poor that I clocked it right on the head. That got it off the trail in a rattling hurry, but I heard a lot more rattles from where it slithered to.
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#75
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Never ran over a snake in the US but have run over plenty of them in Thailand. They were mostly boas or pythons. There are cobras and other deadly snakes but have never seen them while on my bike. Did kill a green viper type of snake a number of years ago at my house in Bangkok.