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Tvash
climber
Seattle
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Aug 11, 2014 - 11:38am PT
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It's true, a king cobra doesn't poo in your shoe for revenge.
Any animal that can will itself into a bad case of diarrhea should command respect.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Aug 11, 2014 - 12:16pm PT
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My back yard yesterday...
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Aug 11, 2014 - 12:20pm PT
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Little trip down memory lane, on the first ascent of the Left Side of the Hourglass, circa 1962:
"I do recollect one funny incident on the approach when Kamps stepped on a group of baby rattlesnakes. When I called him back he told me how cute they were and he hoped he didn't injure them! We made the trip up to the Hourglass a number of times and it was always a different adventure."
Gentle man that Mr Kamps.
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Tvash
climber
Seattle
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Aug 11, 2014 - 01:31pm PT
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We encountered a ball of small rattlers in Icicle Creek. We gently nudged them with a stick but couldn't get even one to rattle.
I think they felt pretty secure.
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pb
Sport climber
Sonora Ca
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Aug 11, 2014 - 02:50pm PT
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The other day my belayer let out a scream and started running. She was dumping out rope so I pondered the belay chain briefly and went straight onto a bolt. She exclaimed that a bat or a snake had fallen off the route nearly onto her. It was hard to tell in her upside-down specs. She was already a little jumpy. (Her husband was recovering from a recent Rattlesnake bite.) Our friend Dave pulled a Striped Racer from the pile of rope...with a bat in it's mouth!
Dave said it reminded him of of of those Jason Bourne movies in which the shooter uses a human shield while falling.
The snake slithered off, I finished the pitch, the bat reincarnated...my belayer? After another similar encounter a couple of days latter...is considering frisbee golf.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Aug 11, 2014 - 02:55pm PT
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^^^^
That is awesome.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Aug 11, 2014 - 03:16pm PT
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j-tree,
not all deserts are hot and arid. They just don't get much precipitation. Look at Antarctica or even the Gobi.
But back to snakes and sleeping on the ground. I once bivied behind my truck in some sand dunes. When I woke up I noticed that there were evenly intervaled S shaped tracks overlaying my truck tracks. In a few seconds I realized that a fairly large sidewinder had slithered right up to my head while I had been asleep.
I tracked it to some bushes about 200' away.
He hadn't messed with me so I showed the same courtesy.
Once Jimmy Dunn encountered a buzzworm on a small ledge in the Black so he just took a 5m fall.
If you are scared of snakes move to Iceland.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 11, 2014 - 03:23pm PT
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If you are scared of snakes move to Iceland.
Bunch o' drunks there, go to Ireland.
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Tvash
climber
Seattle
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Aug 11, 2014 - 05:01pm PT
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One of our local boys put his hand on a ledge at Tieton (lots of rattlers there), heard a buzz, and opted for the intentional whipper.
The grasshopper eventually flew away and he was able to resume climbing.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 11, 2014 - 05:20pm PT
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One of our local boys put his hand on a ledge at Tieton (lots of rattlers there), heard a buzz, and opted for the intentional whipper.
An old acquaintance in Seattle was out of gas on something on the Cookie so
he quit putting pro in and went for the ledge. Yes, the ledge was occupied
and the occupant wasn't up for sharing, or warning about his lack of camaraderie.
Jim slapped the ledge and WHAM, he was flyin'! Took a good one although
the fall didn't do much to him. It took him and his mate a long time to
self-rescue and it was hours before he got to Modesto. Back then I don't
think anti-venin even existed, at least in any sizable quantities. I saw
him a year later and it was all he could do to hold a pool cue.
ps
Tami, if I'm gonna be the straight man I expect better. ;-/
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Tvash
climber
Seattle
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Aug 11, 2014 - 05:49pm PT
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I was returning from a little country bar to our roadside camp one moonless night in N Costa Rica, with my headlamp off so I could enjoy the stars. The road got rutted so I switched my headlamp on and, while doing that, looked down and did an impromptu jump to avoid a coral snake I was about to step on.
The thing never broke it's stride.
Coral snakes aren't very aggressive but they do pack cobra venom which I would expect they'd generously share if stepped on.
We'd been warned to be really careful at night and you know? I really took that to heart from that moment forward.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Aug 11, 2014 - 07:53pm PT
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Reilly...I thought you were married..? rj
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Aug 12, 2014 - 12:54am PT
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Go to Ireland, no snakes to worry about, but without a tent you might die of pneumonia waiting for a dry day to climb.
Not true, there are plenty of snakes in Ireland. Some have unusual names, like Denny O’Brienisi, or M Lowrousy, or Enema Kenny, or Seannie Quinnis, or Seannie Fitzpaddy, or the rockstar turned saint, Boner
Most of these snakes can be found under the rocks they slither from, but more likely places are the Dáil, banks, development companies, or even the higher echelons of civil services and government.
And the only tents they will be found in are the corporate hospitality tents at events like the Galway Races.
Be wary of these snakes, they are mean and vicious, and their bite is worse if the victim is a working or middle class person.
And real Irish climbers do not need tents in the cold pissing rain. A pub will do. (But then see below)
EDIT
And what is Ireland famous for ?
Tami, that's not fair. In the EU countries like the Czech Republic, Finland and the Baltic nations have a much higher problem of alcoholism, but yes binge drinking by Irish youngsters is a concern. Any different in Canada or the US?
ANOTHER EDIT
Tvash, I had to google Tieton. That place looks like real fun climbing. However, my late father being a Washingtonian and I have loads of relatives in Washington. I understand that the eastern part of the state has loads of rattlers.
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