Today's hike was an adventurous one! My feet and boots still are not getting along, but they go numb after the first half-mile usually. By 7:15am I was already dripping in sweat, which led to a constant swarm of approximately one million mosquitoes. Although I don't approve of bug stray, I couldn't resist because it was too early in the morning to be THAT annoyed.
In a moment of concentration as we fought to keep our breath as we crested a hill, a small rabbit scampered about one foot in front of me, giving me my first heart attack of the day.
My second heart attack was when I almost got bitten by a rattlesnake.....
While Leah (my hiking partner today) was documenting a small lark sparrow who was nearly decaptiated by flying into the barbed wire fence (photo below), I decided I was going to start switching the camera trap batteries/SD card. As I walked towards the camera (very angrily because of the 47 horse flies biting me in that particular moment) I heard a frighteningly close rattle. I looked down and there was a rattlesnake in its coiled/attack position about two feet away from my foot. I didn't really handle it well because I screamed like a little girl, probably frightening the snake even more. I did, however, run away pretty damn fast. Leah came over to check out the snake from a safe distance, but he was not happy to see another giant homo sapien, so he warned us again with another rattle. In my series of curses, panic, and fly swats, I was able to get a photo of the snake (coming soon!)
While Leah (my hiking partner today) was documenting a small lark sparrow who was nearly decaptiated by flying into the barbed wire fence (photo below), I decided I was going to start switching the camera trap batteries/SD card. As I walked towards the camera (very angrily because of the 47 horse flies biting me in that particular moment) I heard a frighteningly close rattle. I looked down and there was a rattlesnake in its coiled/attack position about two feet away from my foot. I didn't really handle it well because I screamed like a little girl, probably frightening the snake even more. I did, however, run away pretty damn fast. Leah came over to check out the snake from a safe distance, but he was not happy to see another giant homo sapien, so he warned us again with another rattle. In my series of curses, panic, and fly swats, I was able to get a photo of the snake (coming soon!)
...And there is a strong possibility that my reaction to the snake was caught on our motion-sensors camera. Stay tuned and I'll post it if that's the case!
Dead lark sparrow on barbed wire! :( So sad! (Photo: Leah Mabee)
I found a mule deer jaw and thought I was funny (Photo: Leah Mabee)
Yikes! Tell me you had your gaiters on!
ReplyDeleteI did! And I'm sporting a nice gaitor tan
ReplyDelete