[E_BikeR]

This was unsettling but I was attacked and missed while coasting by on a single-track trail. For a minute I thought I caught this in my rear wheel. I don't have a problem with snakes, but this incident gave me the heebie-geebies.

Blah!

 

[Jojo]

Ugh..scary, I had a similar encounter coming home from Nationals last year with a very aggresive water moccasin.
At 1st you think, wow that was awesome, then you realize how bad it could have really been:twisted:

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[Brawsie]

Wow, you were attacked by the only myopic rattle snake in the world.:lol:

I had a run-in with a water moccasin when I was a kid. I totally lost my mind for a couple of days...
*waits for insane jokes*

 

[SoloRider]

I was startled many a time by rattlesnakes back when I lived in the desert, never had one lunge at me though. Scary.

 

[RdE_Rnr]

wow! glad to know that your okay,hope it doesn't stop you doing single tracks, just be careful out there.

 

[ds4832]

Snakes are fine as long as theyre not lunging after me!
Glad you came out unharmed!

 

[Speedy Toaster Dave]

me i dislike snakes and huge rats ok ok any rats...
JoJo Mr. JoJo would'a suck da poison out if ya got bit...

 

[E_BikeR]

Thanks you guys.

This trail is an early season trail that we ride because the snow melts fast there, and its close to town, but it's now hot and dry. Probably going to avoid this trail from this point forward this season.

Currently the snow line is 7,600 feet, and melting fast.

This is only the second encounter of a snake in Utah I have ever had, and I'm out in the mountains 3 to 5 days a week. I expect to be riding the higher elevation trails soon, and the snakes don't like higher elevations here for some reason which is good with me!

 

[Jojo]

me i dislike snakes and huge rats ok ok any rats...
JoJo Mr. JoJo would'a suck da poison out if ya got bit...

I made a HUGE mistake, went out on a trail alone, with no protection and no phone. I've learned my lesson now.

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[Miss Ellie & Co.]

When riding Sand Rails out in the desert it's not all that uncommon to have a tire kick up a rattler.
Nothing like having a really pissed off snake land on your lap or on the seat next to you.
It actually happened to a friend of mine.
Luckily there was no bite just a lot of fright and some skid marks in his shorts.

 

[Jim N]

Snakes and mountain bikes

Nice rattler pic!

We have probably 4 venomous snakes in our part of Florida (there are 6, statewide), but the most unnerving is definitely the big Diamondback rattler. Don't see those as much as the Cottonmouth (a nasty, beligerent creature) because they would rather slither off than confront you. The Cottonmouth, meanwhile, will just lay there in the middle of the trail, like he's daring you to ride by...get too close and they'll raise up and pop open their mouth to show the white inside (and the large fangs).

We also have a boatload of the little Pygmy rattlers. See them quite frequently late in the afteroons, on the paved trails especially. Small, but their bite will make you pretty sick...

Then there is the Coral snake, which is in our area, but I've never encountered one in the wild. They are pretty reclusive, and the saying goes if you want to get bitten by a Coral snake, you have to make an appointment!

 

[Jojo]

Then there is the Coral snake, which is in our area, but I've never encountered one in the wild. They are pretty reclusive, and the saying goes if you want to get bitten by a Coral snake, you have to make an appointment!

I slept with a coral snake once;-)
I was staying in my folks fishing camping on a mattress on the floor, pulled back the covers in the morning and HELLO:shock: jumped up, called my brother-in-law and he came over and killed it for me. I slept on the couch after that.

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[E_BikeR]

Nice rattler pic!

We have probably 4 venomous snakes in our part of Florida (there are 6, statewide), but the most unnerving is definitely the big Diamondback rattler. Don't see those as much as the Cottonmouth (a nasty, beligerent creature) because they would rather slither off than confront you. The Cottonmouth, meanwhile, will just lay there in the middle of the trail, like he's daring you to ride by...get too close and they'll raise up and pop open their mouth to show the white inside (and the large fangs).

We also have a boatload of the little Pygmy rattlers. See them quite frequently late in the afteroons, on the paved trails especially. Small, but their bite will make you pretty sick...

Then there is the Coral snake, which is in our area, but I've never encountered one in the wild. They are pretty reclusive, and the saying goes if you want to get bitten by a Coral snake, you have to make an appointment!

Speaking of different snakes, the slot canyons of southern Utah gets these in the late season. Nothing like hiking down a shoulder width canyon and coming across a 12" white snake and asking yourself "hmmmm, is this really cool hike in this amazing place worth trying to get around that?" I usually turn around.

 

[tkobrian]

There's a pinkish colored one in West Texas...a rock rattler. Never seen one in person but they're pretty cool looking in pics.

Growing up around the swamps of S. Louisiana, Water Moccassins & Copperheads were a daily siting. I'd see 4-5 Water Moc's on an avg mtb ride heading for the water. When you come upon one sunning itself, you just learn to wait them out then both go about your business. A pissed WM can take some time but will eventually back down. Rattlers were a bit more reclusive and there's tons of hiding places in the grass/ferns along the ridges lining a swamp so they aren't often seen.

Out in Central Texas there's less ground cover and a lot less shade so you tend to occupy the same space more often. Still I've only seen a few rattlers in over 10 years of being in the woods 3-5 times a week. The good thing is I'm not up to my a$$ in ferns only seeing part of it trying to figure out were the business end is...happened far too may times hunting as a teenager w/Water Moc's. Once I was standing on a stump rabbit hunting in a sea of waist high ferns. I hear a sound at my feet and see part of a rattler a big as my forearm slither past me and disappear into the stump. :-o

 

[E_BikeR]

There's a pinkish colored one in West Texas...a rock rattler. Never seen one in person but they're pretty cool looking in pics.

Once I was standing on a stump rabbit hunting in a sea of waist high ferns. I hear a sound at my feet and see part of a rattler a big as my forearm slither past me and disappear into the stump. :-o

I like that pinkish snake, different. Wow, to have something that size pass by that close.... What can you do but wait? The last rattler I'd seen before this was last summer in another dry rocky area, also coasting on the mountain bike down the trail. About 4' and a healthy sized middle! He was headed the right way when I spotted him.

 

[Wally]

I got bit on my right ankle by a baby (guessing less than a couple of months old) Southern Pacific Rattlesnake.

We had just moved into our house, literally days before, and I stepped outside around 7pm and the little sucker was on the doorstep and I stepped on it. Bit me before I even knew it was there. Just made my foot turn all black and pretty ugly, and gave me a very weird feeling muscle spasm in my face for about 2 hours - but it did get me out of work for a week while I sat on my butt with my foot elevated.

Since, in the 4 years since, we have had to remove a dozen or so from our front yard, from new born to very large adults [4'+], along with several Gophersnakes. We also had one California King that our cats caught, IN OUR LIVING ROOM, and decided that was our pet. just 8 inches long (about 1 month old), he is now almost 18".

 

[_jea_]

E_BikeR, glad that you are OK. I don't hate snakes in general, but the poisonous ones I do. We are quite safe here in Ohio (at least I hope), but if need be, I might move just across the lake to hapyface's house. (not really sure if I am safer there ;-))

 

[E_BikeR]

I got bit on my right ankle by a baby (guessing less than a couple of months old) Southern Pacific Rattlesnake.

We had just moved into our house, literally days before, and I stepped outside around 7pm and the little sucker was on the doorstep and I stepped on it. Bit me before I even knew it was there. Just made my foot turn all black and pretty ugly, and gave me a very weird feeling muscle spasm in my face for about 2 hours - but it did get me out of work for a week while I sat on my butt with my foot elevated.

Since, in the 4 years since, we have had to remove a dozen or so from our front yard, from new born to very large adults [4'+], along with several Gophersnakes. We also had one California King that our cats caught, IN OUR LIVING ROOM, and decided that was our pet. just 8 inches long (about 1 month old), he is now almost 18".

Great story! I'm digging all the snake stories. You even got a pet out of the deal! Thanks Wally!

E_BikeR, glad that you are OK. I don't hate snakes in general, but the poisonous ones I do. We are quite safe here in Ohio (at least I hope), but if need be, I might move just across the lake to hapyface's house. (not really sure if I am safer there ;-))

And thanks jea, I'm fine. I am pretty sure when he struck, he hit the frame and it kind of stunned him, her, it. It had a chance to strike again but it didn't. I haven't moved that fast out of my pedals in some time!

I have no ill will for any creatures, even the ones that try and bite me.