3 nice big live ones in PA.
3 nice big live ones in PA.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
I saw one at a campsite in the Smoky Mtns, in PA before Port Clinton and I almost stepped on one in NJ. I saw some local kids with a dead one at the shelter past McAfee Knob in VA. I also saw pictures taken by other hikers of rattlers before DWG and Palmerton in Pa and somewhere in Shenandoah.
"Don't be male"---now that's funny!
I almost stepped on two Eastern rattlers out sunbathing on some rocks where the trail dropped off on both sides on Stony Mtn. E of Duncannon, PA. It was so narrow there that it was impossible to avoid the rocks they were on. I only saw them after I heard them rattle and was just past them. Fortunately, my moving along at a good clip and just missing stepping on them prob. saved me from being bitten. Also they were amply present at the OLD Rausch Gap Shelter (same general area) before the great folks who manage that section rebuilt that terribly mouse-ridden shelter. They may no longer be present there with the mouse population down.
I've seen plenty of copperheads at various places along the trail, including PA, MD, and VA. I'm glad they eat the mice.
A rattler in PA is a timber rattler (crotalus horridus) not an Eastern diamondback rattler (crotalus adamanteus).
I saw one in MD. I guess that makes it the "most". It was in the late 1960's.
Rattlesnake ridge in NJ in September. Scared the you know what out of me for about 3 seconds, then it turned into a "photo op." Sucker wouldn't move off the trail either ... I had to bushwack around him!
"Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be
able to treat life as art." Maya Angelou
About 10 miles south of Port Clinton. Big 1.
Last one was a timber rattlesnake in the northern end of SNP. It was in July, around 9am. The guy was just catching some rays right in the middle of the trail. I just missed stepping on it, yet it never coiled or rattled. After a brief standoff and a photo shoot, it slowly moved off the trail.
Stillatit, Stony Mountain is known as a good place to find all kinds of snakes, especially on the rocky faces of the southern exposure. I carry a stick and do lots of tapping to let them know I coming through.
I met half of a dozen of them last year between 501 shelter and Lehigh Gap. Was not the highlight of my hike.
Pa. is where I've seen the best population.
I' n the trail regular around Oct Mtn. in Ma. and have been lucky enough to have seen one twice in the Walling Mt. area as I headed NB toward the pond. Thanked my higher power in Ma. for letting me see that mother nature is alive and well still in these parts. Grateful 99.9 percent of others who venture out and are given that gift to see that critter still able to manage our winters share my feelings.
Ran into this one catching some sun on the side of the trail- just past Woody Gap
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I had a brief encounter with this one on in SNP on Friday (07/18), where the AT circles Loft Mountain campground. Being female, British, and not drunk at the time, I said "hello, snake" and politely waited for it to move off the trail...
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This one was on the approach trail halfway between AFSP and Springer on May 21st this year. He was coiled and rattling. Had to bushwhacked around him.
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Last edited by Deacon; 07-20-2014 at 21:30. Reason: incomete
I know a woman who is a main violinist for the St. Louis symphony. She grew up in a family that played old tyme country music. Old square dance music.
So Isaac Pearlman is in town for a gig with the symphony. He's giving Becky a lesson on what's to be performed that evening. He says " no no that's not I mean, give me your violin and I'll show you". She does. There's this little tinkle tinkle from the violin. Isaac- "What's this?" Becky- " It's a rattlesnake tail, it keeps the devil out of your fiddle!"
Isaac- "Well that's a good thing"
I wonder what I should put inside my accordion to keep the devil or the stupid out of it?
I'ld think Loki is in charge of accordions. not evil just mischief.
Saw two rattlers during third week of May this year. One at Rocky Top, and the other stretched across the trail between there and Clingman's Dome. Neither one showed any aggressive behavior, or even rattled for that matter.