Snakes and other dangers

[Brokenheart]

In my research for a thru hike I have been reading various trail journals. Have noticed quite a few references to rattle snakes as well as pictures of them. Wow, some of those things are huge! In the interest of going as light as possible, I plan to only carry a tarp. I worry about waking up with a rattle snake next to me or the absolute worst case, in the sleeping bag. :eek: Also what about scorpions or any other creepy crawlies to worry about.

Seems like a lot of people just sleep out in the open, that is what I would like to do as well. Not have to deal with setting up a shelter every night. So for you PCTers are these legitimate concerns? I'm not afraid of the wildlife, but I respect it and don't want any up close and personal contacts.

Thanks

[Jim Adams]

used a rarp for 2 AT thrus...no problems.
cowboy camped 90% of the nights on 1000 miles of the PCT...no problems.
yes you will see snakes but I see no reason that you will wake up with them!

geek

[elray]

As a person who has spent most of my life outdoors I can say with some authority that given a path of retreat snakes and all other woods creatures will make it their business to avoid you at all costs. Those snakes in the sleeping bag stories are the creations of Hollywood movie makers and are a total myth. I wish the same could be said of insects! On a couple different occasions I have bivouacked on or near anthills with painful results not to mention the Yellow Jacket nests I've accidentally stepped into, but heck, how else will determine your "trail running" abilities!

[Ron Haven]

In my research for a thru hike I have been reading various trail journals. Have noticed quite a few references to rattle snakes as well as pictures of them. Wow, some of those things are huge! In the interest of going as light as possible, I plan to only carry a tarp. I worry about waking up with a rattle snake next to me or the absolute worst case, in the sleeping bag. :eek: Also what about scorpions or any other creepy crawlies to worry about.

Seems like a lot of people just sleep out in the open, that is what I would like to do as well. Not have to deal with setting up a shelter every night. So for you PCTers are these legitimate concerns? I'm not afraid of the wildlife, but I respect it and don't want any up close and personal contacts.

ThanksI was shuttling 2 hikers from Franklin to Mooney Gap this morning on FS67.Between bear pen trail and beech gap trail there was a bobcat ran across the road in front of me.This cat was as big as a boxer bulldog.:eek::eek::eek:I have lived in these parts for years and never seen one in the wild and never saw one this big ever in captivity.

[Geo.]

Hello Brokenheart,
Like has been said, I'd think your only likely problem with sleeping open is to be with insects - I was glad to dive into a tent in some of the PCT mosquito areas. Some of those ants were persistent wee devils too. :o
Guess you're familiar with bears. For the more northern sections, some agencies say it's safer sleeping in a (foodless) tent than it is sleeping out in the open.
On that angle, I've sometimes wondered if a bear might view a hammock camper as a low slung 'bear bag' full of goodies!

[modiyooch]

I respect and love the outdoors, but there has to be a bugproof, snakeproof, rainproof tent between me and it.

[fiddlehead]

If snakes like people so much, and they like biting people, then why aren't more people bit by them?
(hint: they don't like you either)

[A-Train]

No need to worry. I've hiked a 1000 miles on the PCT in the desert the past 3 yrs and have never experienced and heard of an episode with a hiker being bothering in the night. You will see Rattlers during the day-stay alert, don't hike with headphones and you'll be fine.

[Ramble~On]

I have been bitten by rattlesnakes and spiders and don't care to do it ever again - I've been really lucky this far and know my luck is out. I view all roots with suspicion! But in time I've stopped worrying about it and hike on..Kinda like when you get a speeding ticket it humbles you & you monitor your speed more closely and slow down for about...10 minutes till the cops gone. Anyone who has ever been bitten by a poisonous snake can probably relate. Poop happens!
-- One morning there was a rattlesnake under the ISO mat of a guy in my platoon..we almost always cowboy camped...he didn't know it was there until he picked up the mat - pretty big guy-you'd think he would have smooshed the snake but not so.
-- My dog went nuts one morning barking and growling at seemingly nothing until a copperhead came slithering down to the rocks still warm from a fire the night before.
I sleep with mesh or nylon between me and the whatevers crawling around out there...not to say it'd stop something from biting through though:eek: but I'm not into creepy crawlies.
I've stepped on snakes...never saw them and didn't know they were there until they tagged me..all were rattlesnakes and only one of them ever rattled and that was AFTER it bit me.
I have a respect for snakes..I don't hate or fear them and it always sucks to hear people talk about killing them regardless of type. Spiders - yeah well...spiders suck!

[envirodiver]

As a person who has spent most of my life outdoors I can say with some authority that given a path of retreat snakes and all other woods creatures will make it their business to avoid you at all costs. Those snakes in the sleeping bag stories are the creations of Hollywood movie makers and are a total myth. I wish the same could be said of insects! On a couple different occasions I have bivouacked on or near anthills with painful results not to mention the Yellow Jacket nests I've accidentally stepped into, but heck, how else will determine your "trail running" abilities!

Nothing like the yellow jacket dance to get the blood flowing, plus it's really funny to see from a distance (before you know that the person jumping around is being stung by yellow jackets).

[fiddlehead]

How about one of these? http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg201/fiddleheadpa/spider.jpg
Don't worry, I didn't see this baby on the AT or PCT, it was in Thailand. They are harmless by they way. My Thai friend insisted on holding it in his hand but this is the only picture i took of it.

[Tipi Walter]

I've been backpacking into Pisgah NF since 1982 and spent most of my time along the creeks(Harpers/Upper/Raider Camp/Wilson/Lost Cove/Ripshin). I never saw a rattlesnake until 2006 when my buddy Johhny B and I came up on 2 timber rattlers in a five day span.

In the Citico/Slickrock I've seen 3 rattlers after 76 backpacking trips, and 2 in one week(end of July). I think the warmer winters are causing the snakes to climb higher(saw one at 5000 feet)and take over what normally would be copperhead territory(creek banks). And their presence might also have something to do with the current drought in the southeast. I saw an albino rattlesnake up on the BMT/Fodderstack trail back in 2002, pure white with a nice set of rattles. Figured it was like seeing the White Buffalo Calf, I saw the White Rattlesnake Woman. I was blessed.

Tarps have a lot of drawbacks for me, mainly in high winds with blowing snow and rainstorms atop open balds with attendant 50-60 mph winds. Another drawback to a tarp is the typical NC/TN summer insects like noseeums, black flies and carpenter ants(and gnats)which can't enter a zipped up tent. Noseeums in particular are bothersome.

Yellow jackets are not a problem in either a tarp or bedroll camping. Only one time did I set up near a nest and dozens of the things were zooming around my camp but I found if I layed still they didn't sting. Sometimes mosquitos can be a real hassle when coyboy camping, and if you have to use your sleeping bag to hide from them on a hot summer night, you know what I'm talking about.

Although I've had several encounters with spiders and share SpiritWind's dislike of them, they rarely present themselves when backpacking. One time I put on my pack in the morning and a mid-sized tarantula ran out of it and down my neck, left arm, left leg and scampered off. Freaked me out. I've had many smaller spiders join me in the tent, especially during a long rainstorm, and some of them look like wolf spiders, fast and aggressive.

One time at the Tipi I came in after doing some work outside and in the dark picked up my sierra cup with a little tea in it and placed it on my lips to drink. Sitting in the bottom of it was a huge wolf spider and it touched my lips and I screamed like a 2 year old and flung both the cup and the spider across the lodge and felt numb for awhile.

Sleeping out in the open with a bedroll can also allow black ants to cover you and your boots and gear. Many times I'd wake up tossing and turning after being bit repeatedly by these normally harmless ants. They bite only when pressed or crushed but they can be easily felt crawling over you and it suks!! One time I must've set up on a nest cuz they covered me thru the night and each boot contained hundreds of them.

[Mrs Baggins]

As a person who has spent most of my life outdoors I can say with some authority that given a path of retreat snakes and all other woods creatures will make it their business to avoid you at all costs. Those snakes in the sleeping bag stories are the creations of Hollywood movie makers and are a total myth. I wish the same could be said of insects! On a couple different occasions I have bivouacked on or near anthills with painful results not to mention the Yellow Jacket nests I've accidentally stepped into, but heck, how else will determine your "trail running" abilities!


Having lived in Arizona for 3 years I beg to differ on the "they will avoid you at all costs" line of thought. We lived in a suburb east of Phoenix, busy little town with lots of people and traffic. Rattlers favored the front porches of occupied homes for mating and just stretching out. I nearly stepped on one that was stretched across the threshold of a condo in a busy complex. He didn't even attempt to crawl off. They frequently had to be removed from the high school campus grounds as well as condo complex parking lots. No amount of human activity seemed to phase them. The fire dept would come out and take them further out to the desert. It was illegal to kill them in that town but of course sometimes an exuberant homeowner would grab a sharp bladed shovel before calling the fire dept. They also hung out on busy hiking/biking trails and would not budge when approached.

[sasquatch2014]

I was shuttling 2 hikers from Franklin to Mooney Gap this morning on FS67.Between bear pen trail and beech gap trail there was a bobcat ran across the road in front of me.This cat was as big as a boxer bulldog.:eek::eek::eek:I have lived in these parts for years and never seen one in the wild and never saw one this big ever in captivity.

How Funny is this just had one in my yard in NY the otherday heading to where or one last chicken is. My son and I went out knowing once it saw us it would head the other way. My boy is more like a coon hound than a kid. I had to call him back as he was chasing it. Not sure what I would have doe had he treed the thing.:D

[sasquatch2014]

I have not done anything on the PCT but having lived outwest both in Colorado and Wyoming I have had some time in that type of country. I worked as a Wrangler on a 15,000 acre ranch at the foot of the Big Horn Mts for a while and got some saged advice from a guy who was bit a time or two. Step on Rocks not over, never know what is on the backside. If having to pick something up tip the top to you so the bottom is away from you gives whatever is living under the thing a chance to go away from you. Always drink upstream from the herd and don't squat with your spurs on. Ok so maybe the last one isn't needed on the PCT but its still good advice.:D

[envirodiver]

One time at the Tipi I came in after doing some work outside and in the dark picked up my sierra cup with a little tea in it and placed it on my lips to drink. Sitting in the bottom of it was a huge wolf spider and it touched my lips and I screamed like a 2 year old and flung both the cup and the spider across the lodge and felt numb for awhile.

Gotta say that is a funny visual. One of those things you can look back on and laugh at.

Wow albino rattlesnake...cool.

[d'shadow]

As a person who has spent most of my life outdoors I can say with some authority that given a path of retreat snakes and all other woods creatures will make it their business to avoid you at all costs. Those snakes in the sleeping bag stories are the creations of Hollywood movie makers and are a total myth. I wish the same could be said of insects! On a couple different occasions I have bivouacked on or near anthills with painful results not to mention the Yellow Jacket nests I've accidentally stepped into, but heck, how else will determine your "trail running" abilities!

You should tell my brother it is a myth. We went camping often when children with my Dad, and more than once, my brother woke up with a rattlesnake sleeping with him in his bag. I can still hear him calling,"Dad?
Dad? Daaaaaad!"

[dirt]

I live in the desert just east of campo (PCT trailhead). We have ALOT of sidewinders in this desert and yes they do go towards heat on cold nights. When partying out in the desert we will sometimes find them underneath the front of pickups where the warmth is. So take that as it is, you are one big lump of warmth out there in a cold desert.