Freefallman

So I took a friend of mine who doesn't ride much out in the Santa Monica mountains and I was telling her that I once almost ran over of a rattle snake at the Nike Missile Base that's up on on dirt Mulholland. No sooner had I said this but I heard a hiss and I started looking around. Low and behold there was a pacific rattler about 2 1/2 feet from us in a shaded bit of the paved lot from the base. Since I had my camera and a bit of space I took some pics. As you can see it doesn't look happy. Anyone had any scary snake encounters?

jcook1989

I stepped off the trail for a leak once and basically stood on top of this snake while I did it. At first I thought it was dead so i poked it with a stick and it moved. Kinda weird. Glad it didn't bite me though cause I read later that they are mildly venomous.

Also riding up a fire road we saw a rattler in the middle of the trail. My friend lobbed a few rocks towards it to get it move but it just sat there. So we walked around it but while we were walking it started moving which sort of freaked us out. But then it just sort of went in the opposite direction into the grass.

liquefied

Mildly venemous? It's not like a bee sting.

ed 

I sense that he was being a little sarcastic.


Right after I was explaining to my wife how important it was that I had Hydro's...I went for a ride, popped around a corner, and slammed on my brakes!!! I stopped 6" from a Copperhead. I got a stick and helped him on his merry little way.

jcook1989

Unsure exactly what that means but that is what is says online. My bet would be that it isn't fatal but it could still mess you up.

victim

That looks like a big one?

ed 

Go to Google Images and enter "rattlesnake bite". I'd post some pic's, but I think it'd make me vom

liquefied

They aren't fatal to adults but they will mess your day (or month) up big time. People have lost limbs without proper treatment. So I wouldn't call it mildly venomous.

M_S

I ran a couple feet by one that was chilling on the side fo the trail in the eastern Columbia River gorge this past summer. I've also had one slither a couple feet in front of me while hiking outside of Phoenix.

Both experiences pale to getting charged by a mountain lion while riding (ironically, int he Rattlesnake National recreation area, though there are no rattlesnakes there, lol).

ed 

There's got to be more to that story.

M_S

Here's the thread I made a couple hours later. I just re-read it and It's an abomonation of grammar and spelling, but I think that is a good way of portraying my mental state

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/341113-here-kitty.html

Restoman

So, let's say you did get tagged by one of these snakes or any venomous snakes. 10 miles out. What is the best action if you have to get yourself out. No cell phone coverage (a good thing mind you), no other riders that can help. what do you do to get the 10 miles, at 10 miles prompt medical attention is waiting. Do you tourniquet your bite from the rest of your body and slowly bring it in maintaining a low bp to stop the venom spread? Do you grab the snake pop it's head off (hey you already got bit) for identification, and clock your quickest 10 mile lap? Louisiana has some mean snakes and I have no idea how to handle this besides the popping the head off.

jcook1989

Don't try to grab the snake it could bite you again. Sometimes snakes will only bite and not release venom into things that can't eat in order to scare them off. Grabbing them almost guarantee that you will be stuck with venom. Just remember what it looks like and they should be able to figure it out.

Restoman

Oh it's dying, don't care, It's not getting away with trying to kill me.

markhr

...and that's one reason I'm happy to ride in the UK. Snakes, eeeech.

-_RebelRidin'_-

Yea, I aint got to worry bout that in Germnay now,
Was always worried bout it in Georgia, I don't dig snakes to much

No Mojo

Wish I didn’t do that!

ed 

This is why I didn't just link some here...they're gross, man.

M_S

A proper tourniquet is a device that sacrfices the limb in order to save the rest of the body. If you do it right, you WILL have an amputated leg. I don't know enough about various poisonous snakes to say whther they are venemous enough to warrant this.

Also, mioving quickly to get out could be very bad thing by increasing your rate of blood flow and more effectively circulating the poison throughout your body. On the other hand, you probably want help quick. Kind of a crappy dilemna.

Restoman

more input please

Freefallman

Getting your heart pumping after a snake bite is a really bad idea. I grew up in Arkansas which has the lovely distinction of being home to all four of the poisonous snakes (Rattlesnake, Cottonmouth, Copperhead, and Coral) in North America. Best to stay away from them but if you do get tagged you should stay calm and avoid activity and be transferred to a hospital in a car (ie. don't ride). Call ahead and let them know what's up. My guess is that hospitals stock anti-venoms for indigenous poison snakes. Don't try to suck the poison out. That's a myth. Also don't try to catch the snake. If you get a reasonably good look at it (and if it bites you, you probably will) they'll be able to identify it. Screwing around will likely result in tissue loss.

TimJ

I've only ran into snakes once while riding, this was waaaay back in like 88, me and my did were biking in Tieton canyon in Washington (or maybe naches canyon, anyway), it was overcast, misty and wet and I wheeled past a rattler on the side of the trail. We kept going then I noticed a baby. We kept going and I noticed another small one, and a medium one, and the tail of another and then a huuuuuuuuge one behind me crossing the trail. We stopped and took a good look around us and realized there were rattlers essentially everywhere in the rocks on either side of us. I guess it was perfect "out of the hole screwing around" weather for them even. We bugged out of there and I swear in like 50 yards we must have biked past 30 or 40 snakes.

I did see one in Griffith park a couple years ago but hiking, not biking. Huuuuuge sucker, at least 4 feet long, just easing across the trail while people freaked out.

Sixty Fiver

We don't have any venomous snakes this far north although they can be found in the southeast while British Columbia hosts the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake which has a decent range.

While I lived in southern BC rattlesnake encounters were fairly common but like us, our rattlesnakes tend to be pretty easy going, prefer to be left alone, and only bite when provoked.

Restoman

So bunny hoping over them is not kosher?

Sixty Fiver

If that is your only option...

I love snakes and appreciate their place in the world and would not willingly harm one if another option was available... our rattlers would rather flee than fight.

One of the nicest rides here takes us east of the city along some really quiet back roads and although it is great to see the garter snakes sunning themselves on the road too many of them fall victim to cars as they cannot get out of the way fast enough.