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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Aug 10, 2014 - 12:17pm PT
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Baby snakes live in a hole , that is usually empty , and tiny too..!
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 10, 2014 - 12:32pm PT
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it was giving you the "snake eye"... apparently camera shy
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j-tree
Big Wall climber
Typewriters and Ledges
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Aug 10, 2014 - 01:38pm PT
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I have slept on the ground in yosemite and the dessert and other areas a lot,
Dessert = sweet treat after a meal.
Desert = arid and hot habitat.
Notice one has one more "s", we know that's a sweet dessert because everyone wants more sweets and less arid hot heat.
Also, the more you study things you're frightened of (like snakes) the more you'll learn that there's little to be practically feared. Don't research only negative info, research ALL of it and apply those sweet statistics you learned in math class to properly reflect risk versus fear.
Otherwise, your fears begin to sound an awful lot like Rong's posts.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Aug 10, 2014 - 02:03pm PT
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I have been sleeping on the ground in Yosemite with no tent or bivy sack for 30 years and have never even seen a snake in the vicinity of my sleeping bag.
I have seen a handful of rattlesnakes in Yosemite while hiking. I.e. less than 5. I've seen about 5 scorpions while hiking, too.
I've seen rattlesnakes often at Lover's Leap on the descent trail from East Wall. No big deal.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Aug 10, 2014 - 02:30pm PT
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No sleeping on trails. Thats the only place I see them.
Sleeping in the open is not a big deal in the Sierra.
More issues with ants and mice than snakes.
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The Larry
climber
Moab, UT
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Aug 10, 2014 - 02:36pm PT
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I've always been more worried about rangers.
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overwatch
climber
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Aug 10, 2014 - 02:42pm PT
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Surely you can find more deserving things to hate other than snakes
What the f*#k with climbers and pictures of their feet?
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Aug 10, 2014 - 02:44pm PT
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put a fake snake inside a crack climb then trick ur buddy!
almost everybody freaks out!!!
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Aug 10, 2014 - 02:49pm PT
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Ok, here's one for ya:
Go ahead and just suspend your fear of snakes for a few minutes and read this.
Get the idea of having an nice adult rattlesnake as a pet in your house, no cage, just free roaming.
Now imagine:
Getting up in the morning.
Getting up in the night to go to the bathroom.
Having company over for dinner, but you can't warn them about the snake, you have to just be a good host and keep watch for them.
You'd never need coffee to wake up.
You would be alert, extroverted, very curteous, and well mannered. Your house would be very neat. And you would be aware of everything in your house all the time.
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ground_up
Trad climber
mt. hood /baja
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Aug 10, 2014 - 02:50pm PT
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Rattlesnakes are very cool ... You have to try to get bit by one or
just be not paying attention. Do some research , get to know about
them and I think your fear factor will lower. Even my Wife considers
it a lucky day seeing one and searches em' out.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Aug 10, 2014 - 02:54pm PT
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In 2003, there were 43 lightning related deaths, according to NOAA.
As an active outdoorsperson (a climber, esp.), I'd be lots more worried about lightning.
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Tvash
climber
Seattle
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Aug 10, 2014 - 03:17pm PT
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Advice to the OP:
Do NOT vacation in Costa Rica.
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dave729
Trad climber
Western America
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Aug 10, 2014 - 03:19pm PT
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They say the best defense is an offense so take notes of
how the deepfriedking cooks rattlesnake. Does a 5 star job.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Aug 10, 2014 - 03:24pm PT
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When in very hot places scorpions will crawl into your tent seeking shade. If you set your tent up early zip it up, or else you will be shaking everything out.
The Grand Canyon has quite a few rattlers, Harvey Butchart hiked 12k miles in the canyon an documented seeing a rattler once every 40 days of hiking. He also claims to have almost been hit by a falling rock only once.
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John Duffield
Mountain climber
New York
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Aug 10, 2014 - 03:25pm PT
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Do NOT vacation in Costa Rica.
or Beleize
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whitemeat
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 11, 2014 - 09:56am PT
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Wow, thank you all! Very helpful!
I am now not as worried to sleep on the ground in various places!
Ed, great stuff, special thanks!
piton Pete, good pics, and ya, I am a ..... When it comes to snakes :)
Thanks again to EVERYONE!!
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TradEddie
Trad climber
Philadelphia, PA
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Aug 11, 2014 - 10:20am PT
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Ron, that list did NOT help to reassure me, and probably didn't help the OP much either! Apogee, yours was maybe slightly more helpful, but fatal or not, any snake bite would induce what my favorite author (Bill Bryson) called "a disinclination to boogie". That's any camping/climbing trip ruined.
What really got me is the anaphylactic shock reports. That requires two separate exposures. Bad enough being bitten by a snake once, but surely that would cure anyone of the desire to pick one up again.
Go to Ireland, no snakes to worry about, but without a tent you might die of pneumonia waiting for a dry day to climb.
TE
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Aug 11, 2014 - 10:35am PT
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Never rescue one from the cold and warm it up in your house......
R.I.P. Russell Means by the way.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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Tvash
climber
Seattle
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Aug 11, 2014 - 11:06am PT
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A climbing buddy of mine's brother raised large constrictors for resale. The first time I visited his house - basically one big snake zoo, I walked into a bedroom and he said "Oh, you don't want to go in there." Inside were 6 or 7 large rock pythons. "Yeah, they'll kill ya."
One python, an new arrival, had it's own enclosure in another room. "This one's really aggressive." The snake was reared up about 3 feet, and every minute or so, she'd wind up and slam against the plexiglass like a baseball bat with quite a bit of force - over, and over, and over. "She'll stop after she gets used to things."
The new snake arrived in a duffel bag (standard procedure). The second a helper opened it, it exploded like a jack in the box and latched onto his forearm, which instantly began bleeding like a stuck pig, thanks to the anti-coagulant in her saliva. She then let go, found a hole in the closet dry wall, crawled up into the wall, and began destroying it. It took 3 guys to subdue her.
He recounted a story of getting a call from the RCMP - his Canadian pal who had a similar business with poisonous snakes was apparently lying dead on his front lawn in Vancouver and the authorities suspected that there might be something in the house they really didn't want to deal with (they knew about his business). Basically, they asked him to go into the house and find it.
Sure enough, he went in with another pal and found a king cobra with free run of the place.
I'm not sure who buys these things, but I think the take away here is just get a cat already.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 11, 2014 - 11:12am PT
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just get a cat already.
Oh, yeah, and try and give it a bath and you'll wish you'd gotten the King Cobra.
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