Ive been doing my best to take advantage of some time off and walk a bunch of trails that have been on my list in the Palo Duro and Caprock Canyon before we move. Today was a great morning so I loaded up the dog, who has been antsy as hell since bird season ended, and we headed to Caprock Canyon State Park. It was pretty cool this morning so the thought of snakes didnt really cross my mind, plus I had never actually seen a rattle snake in the wild so they were more of a theoretical risk. Fast forward about 4 miles into the 6 mile loop and just as I start to put my right foot down a rattle goes off like a hand grenade. The next series of events happened in a fraction of a second:

Look down
See snake lunging toward me
See black and white stripped tail
Scream like a little girl
Blackout
Wake up 30 yards down the trail.

After collecting myself, I was able to get this picture before he went on his merry way


Funny thing is the mutt walked right past him and not a peep out of the damn thing. About a quarter mile later I stop to give the dog a drink and decide it would be a good idea to put him on a leash as the trail was only a a foot or so wide and I didnt want him to get hit by a snake even though the odds seemed small that I'd see another. As soon as I stop, I hear another rattle up ahead about 10 yards. At least this guy had the decency to let me know he was there. Needless to say my head was on a swivel the rest of the walk.

Got a good picture of the pup, though

wow, glad you didn't get hit.

It would have taken me sixteen hours to complete the hike after that. I would be thinking every damn stick was a rattler and checking every spot I put my boot down on. Every leaf rustling would be a whole rattler den.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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It would have taken me sixteen hours to complete the hike after that. I would be thinking every damn stick was a rattler and checking every spot I put my boot down on. Every leaf rustling would be a whole rattler den.

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Did the first 4 miles including 1k ft climb in an hour and a half. The the last 2 miles in 2 hours. The only thing I saw on the way down was the damn ground

I dunno, I've stepped on or up upon numerous rattlesnakes in my career, and no strikes unless I screw with them (for pictures of course).

Unfortunately I'm not near the bad ass as you or ac

In before:

"That looks really fake"
~~AGLA06

We saw our first of the year yesterday out riding the horses around our place in Coleman.

I don't like the idea of living somewhere you see the "first of the year." I grew up in Trinity County on Lake Livingston so give me cotton mouths and gators all day, but eff some rattle snakes

Somehow, a bull snake ended up in the bed of my ranch pickup two weeks ago on Sunday. I loaded up a bunch of tailgating equipment, and we headed to Texas Motor Speedway for the race. We unpacked everything, and we were leaving our parking spot to drive to Justin for some forgotten supplies. A buddy went to remove the last bag chair, and there it set coiled up. That was the last place I anticipated seeing any kind of snake. Had to soak the drawers in a stain remover solution before washing clothes that evening!

I have what I contend is the world record for the standing broad jump when I came upon a rattler sunning on a dirt road once.

I beat it today

hurleyag said:

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We saw our first of the year yesterday out riding the horses around our place in Coleman.

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Howdy neighbor! What part of the county are you in?

Parents are just outside of town heading towards Baird.

Nice! We are over near Valera, 10-15 mins from town.

My dad has a couple hundred acres out near Valera...small world

BCO07 said:

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I don't like the idea of living somewhere you see the "first of the year." I grew up in Trinity County on Lake Livingston so give me cotton mouths and gators all day, but eff some rattle snakes

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You might see water moccasins in the creek behind your new back yard....

Mowing is critical!

Those don't scare me, I been around them my whole life. I know their patterns and what to expect. That damn rattling bomb going off under my foot is something I don't want to get used to.

For 11.5 years my office was in Cedar Hill SP, southwest Dallas County, and I saw multiple rattlesnakes every year. Including inside my office. And a handful of copperheads, and the largest coral I have ever seen. Only saw one cottonmouth the whole time. But rattlesnakes, yeah Cedar Hill SP of all places has a LOT of rattlesnakes.

Maybe it's a combination of experience with the species and shear size of those hammer headed mfers, but given your line of work the other species wouldn't bother me nearly as much as the rattler

Just inside Runnels here... west of Talpa.

Folks have a place couple miles south of Glen Cove, man I need to get out there.

My mothers parents have 300 acres that butts up to the santa Anna mountain.

BCO07 said:

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Funny thing is the mutt walked right past him and not a peep out of the damn thing.

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Your mutt must be a feral hog.

That's clearly the case. I've already sent the breeder a strongly worded email concerning the purity of her blood line

Really though, I did have a very smart human being tell me that garbage about hogs today

FSGuide said:

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In before:

"That looks really fake"
~~AGLA06

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Sally sure has her panties in a wad after I suggested she posted a fake photo.

dr_boogs said:

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Nice! We are over near Valera, 10-15 mins from town.

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My mom has 40 or so acres northwest of Valera, not far from Hordes Creek Lake.

La Fours said:

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dr_boogs said:

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Nice! We are over near Valera, 10-15 mins from town.

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My mom has 40 or so acres northwest of Valera, not far from Hordes Creek Lake.

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Any if you Valera folks know a guy named Dan, used to work for TCEQ?

I doubt it. My mom and dad don't get out to the land very often and have never lived out there.

PotcakeOnly said:

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La Fours said:

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dr_boogs said:

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Nice! We are over near Valera, 10-15 mins from town.

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My mom has 40 or so acres northwest of Valera, not far from Hordes Creek Lake.

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Any if you Valera folks know a guy named Dan, used to work for TCEQ?

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Only guy I know in Valera is Big-O. If you haven't been to Big-O's on Friday for rib day, make the trip, it's worth it! And Big-O is a character (a requirement of good 'cue cooks I surmise). "Front's mild, back is spicy." A sauce joke and saying at their place, keep it clean fellas.

wait... so you saw a snake and blacked out and somehow floated down the trail for 30 yards? why didn't you just step back from where the snake struck out and keep walking? am I missing something?

Better watch for Timber Rattlers around Livingston. We have them on our deer lease west of Woodville.

A contractor killed one in College Station a couple years ago at a customer's back yard. They had a pool with lots of limestone boulders and such around the landscaping. This was in the middle of town as well. Rare for here I think, but they are around.

found a timber run over around normangee 2 years ago

Boogs,

Did you happen to ask your family yet if our families knew one another decades ago?

If you did hopefully they they didn't say let me tell you about those people once they heard their names.