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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Oct 26, 2011 - 09:41pm PT
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Back loop Hidden Valley.
In camp.
Spring.
F*#ker cruised right through camp at lunch headed up into the boulders.
A few minutes later a squirrel came spazzing down into camp and just up-n-died, like a cartoon- eyes glazed,all fours in the air.
I knew exactly what'd happened.
I located the snake and delivered him his lunch.
Pretty cool watching him eat from so close up.
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apogee
climber
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:09am PT
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"Talking about probabilities"
Very sorry to hear that, bdc. Very, very sorry.
See this guy:
He was struck on North Six Shooter about 8 years ago...ironically, the person I mentioned earlier who was bit near Big Sur is his long time partner. Talk about probabilities, eh?
He's still climbing...actively. We climbed together on Tahquitz about a month ago.
I certainly hope you don't believe I've been trying to marginalize or invalidate your fears...just trying to bring some perspective. Hope you can get out and enjoy Joshua Tree.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:20am PT
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Terrorists, snakes our top fears: Survey
Snakes. On a plane. With terrorists.
This, according to the results of a poll taken by Ancestry.ca, would constitute an amalgam of many Canadians' greatest fears.
As Halloween approaches, the family history website asked 1,105 Canadians to reveal their deepest fears.
The No. 1 thing Canadians fear most are terrorists, at 16 per cent. Snakes were a close runner-up at 14 per cent. Heights, public speaking and spiders also make us cringe.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Terrorists+snakes+fears+Survey/5607806/story.html#ixzz1bxMhydsp
There are rattlesnakes in Canada, but it takes some effort to find let alone be bitten by one.
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:31am PT
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Hope you can get out and enjoy Joshua Tree.
Thats the spirit! Them friggin snakes give me the willies too, but Josh is just so magical. Some of the best camping/climbing trips that I have been on have been down to Joshua Tree. Camping in Hidden Valley campground with a group of friends is special.
Joshua tree really works well for groups of friends, because the climbing is cragging, and even if you have disparate abilities, you can all still hang together and have fun.
I'm not much of a climber, and many of my friends are very good climbers. In Yosemite, they pick a route and are gone for the day. In Josh, the routes are short, so you pick an area to climb in and you can all hang together and watch each other climb. There are 5.7s next to 5.11s all over the place out there. So everyone can have a blast.
Edit: Oh, and as a former trail runner, I have nearly stepped on a rattler three times. Once was in Josh. haha.. ack. Another time was over on the east side out near the hot tubs. I was running barefoot on that one.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:35am PT
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i think the basic point of this thread is that it makes good sense to maintain a high state of awareness about our surroundings
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:43am PT
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Oh, John, you reminded me of a traumatic occurrence while I was running in
the San Gabriels. I went to step over a big bush and, yes, while in full
straddle mode the bush started rattling. I never knew I could launch myself
so high from one foot with the other up around my waist. BOING!
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:48am PT
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hahaha.. yep.. they are quite the motivator. On the east side one, I'm pretty certain I levitated.
I usually ran in a kind of trance and I didn't see this guy until the very last split second. I really don't know how I missed him. It wouldn't have been good either, because it was a long way back to camp.
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michaeld
Sport climber
Near Tahoe, CA
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Oct 27, 2011 - 04:44am PT
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My "buzzworm" encounters were all pretty good, except my very first one when I was about 15 near the Sacramento River up by Marysville. It was a baby and it came onto the trail in front of me in a coil, stepping back only made it come towards me. Barely saw the little thing, didn't make a peep.
My first climbing trip encounter with a snake...
Phantom Spires last year, first time there. Beginning of spring, some snow on the ground still. Walking along some rocks, step right next to a big ol one hiding under a big rock, I probably jumped 15 feet. Not joking. Didn't strike at me or anything. It just rattled it's ass off, first time hearing a rattle snake, especially when you're terrified of snakes, and hearing it THAT intense and THAT loud was pretty scary.
I've run into way more small rattle snakes then large ones, probably because they're not too good at hiding yet. I've stepped over one as it crossed the trail by Eagle Rock. I put my hand next to another one who just stared at me while scurrying up a talus field in Desolation.
My favorite was the one in Bishop earlier this year. First time to the Buttermilks, I'm falling on some V6 slab and keep falling off and falling off. Look down next to my pad and see a snake just chilling there trying to get warm. He minded his P's and Q's, and I left him to em'. Came back about 10 minutes later to grab the pad and he had left.
As long as you aren't instigating or stumble upon them aggressively, "Buzzworms" are pretty harmless.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Oct 27, 2011 - 10:07am PT
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FA of Monitor Butte (see cover of the Wiggens book) we saw a rattler on approach so we went back down a different way.
But the snake had moved.
As I stepped down I could hear it right behind my lower foot, so, 65 lb pack and all I jumped onto a boulder.
Irrational fear?
Whether or not, it still resulted in serious injury when the boulder took off down the talus.
Snakes can hurt you without even biting!
I've got snake shot for both my Derringer and J frame.
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Blitzo
Social climber
Earth
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Oct 27, 2011 - 11:09am PT
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I've seen them in all seasons. Mostly in Indian Cove. One fell from a ledge, just missing my head and landed at my feet in December. I stepped on one at Stonehenge Boulders. The worst is when you're wandering in the dark and a rattle goes off. I like to be able to see them. I like to play with them. I'm mostly seen speckled rattlers and only one mojave.
I've encountered more rattlesnakes in Yosemite and Colorado than in Joshua Tree.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Oct 27, 2011 - 11:16am PT
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I've seen a couple rattlers in Josh over the years including one really big one near Rubicon.
Seen more up at Suicide Rock though.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Oct 27, 2011 - 12:23pm PT
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During the invasion of Okinawa, the thing our GI's feared the most was not the kami kazis of which there were many, but the habu, the local vipers. In the end, not one of our military was bitten. The snakes had the good sense to go into the deepest caves and holes once the Americn bombardment started.
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scuffy b
climber
dissected alluvial deposits, late Pleistocene
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Oct 27, 2011 - 03:00pm PT
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Brokedownclimber, being older than 26 greatly reduces your odds of being
bitten by a rattlesnake.
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apogee
climber
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Oct 27, 2011 - 03:06pm PT
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^^^
Statistically true.
If you want to improve those stats, stay sober anytime you are around snakes.
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The Condor
Boulder climber
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Bouldering in Joshua Tree this weekend I happened across a rattlesnake. He (or she) buzzed after I reached too close. I left.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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If you stay in the high desert you are unlikely to encounter a buzz worm. If they go off get the hell away. They rattle to give you a warning that you are freaking them out.
edit: it is a sound you won't forget
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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I'd worry about the Africanized bees out there more than the rattlers. I dated a herpetologist who specialized in rattle snakes. Cali rattlers are mellow. We'd go out tagging them and they always just tried to get away.
The statistic is true- something like 80-90% of all people bitten are male between the age of 16 and 30 who were harassing them. Alcohol is usually involved as well.
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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If you want to know more about buzzworms, there's an awesome book by Laurence Klauber, available at Amazon quite reasonably for a paperback. The hard cover, though, is $139. Discovered this in a San Diego library just after stumbling blindly into an emerging winter den of red rattlers (Crotalus rubra) in thick brush east of SD. Scared the pee out of me, but they were kind.
That species gives a sudden hiss when startled as well as buzzing. Mostly in SW US.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Alcohol is usually involved as well.
Hold my beer for a minute.
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