see a rattlesnake in the wild

i used to fly fish in Eastern Oregon a lot. it’s awesome. while there i saw several rattlesnakes. they’re pretty sweet, and nice enough to warn you before they strike.

Rattlesnakes are actually pretty shy, the East Cost ones anyway. They really just want to be left alone. I’ve seen several who were quite patient with their warning, and never did strike since we quietly moved on. They’re amazing creatures.

I came pretty close to this. I saw a baby rattlesnake that was already caught to do some research on it. I don’t count this as “wild”, though I must say this is quite close :)

I live in an area where there is only 1 species of rattlesnake and it is very rare.

2 of them while I was hiking (each of which gave me a pretty good scare). As long as you know that they’re there, it’s pretty cool. I don’t want to ever have to deal with a bite!

But I lived 26 years before seeing one for myself. It was interesting. Now I know exactly what to avoid.

I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where lots and lots of rattlesnakes live. We hiked all over, and climbed over all sorts of rocks, but we learned when we were little how to avoid rattlers. However, one of my best friends has a foot-long scar on his arm from it being cut open to remove rattlesnake venom when he was two… a rattlesnake got into the well-fenced off yard when he was playing outside. I don’t care to see any more, but I’m sure I will at some point.

We were hiking at Joshua Tree National Park & came across a baby rattler crossing our path. It raised up in a defensive pose, rattled its little rattles at us and then slithered away.

...it was worth it for the momentary excitement/adrenaline rush.

so it’s a given that I’ve done this…and I’ll pass on the experience thank you! Don’t get me wrong…I actually like snakes, have had them as pets…but not rattlers…and running up on one in the wild is not all that fun…especially not if you almost step on it’s head and have to back very slowly away to avoid the painful experience of being bitten.