SNAKES

Speaking of Rattlers at Lovers Leap, I ran into one in a bush about half way up East Crack this spring. It rattled like crazy and at first I though it might be a bees nest, but after seeing what and where it was coming from I quickly climbed past giving it as much room as possible. The party behind us saw in later moving up the crack - they can indeed climb.

jeep gaskin wrote: the south is full of pit vipers and some of them are snakes. .............. never have felt quite the same about bungling through the cashiers jungle though.

Evocative post, jeep gaskin. Thought I'd mine a couple of your gems.

Fun day, kovacs69! But contrary to an earlier post, I find bull snakes kinda nippy. When I come upon one I want to pick up, I approach delicately so as to avoid a few needle prints in my hand. Were yours mostly mellow?

Stich wrote: One was orange and white.

that is very interesting. i can't off the top of my head think of a pure orange & white snake from Texas. there are some of the mountain kingsnakes (L. pyromelena) that have reduced black bands between the orange/white. being in a cave, i wonder if this was a pure cave form with reduced coloration or maybe you inadvertently discovered a new species of cave kingsnake? caves really are the last frontier for cool animals. otherwise possibly a form of albinism. if you happen to have a pic i'd love to see it.

timt wrote:otherwise possibly a form of albinism.

My bet.

Shawn Mitchell wrote: My bet.

I should have looked at its eyes. In any case, it was fairly pretty.

You can almost guarantee curious encounters with water snakes below Black Rose at Paradise Forks in northern Arizona.

On my first visit to Lover's Leap I came across two different rattlesnakes on the approach trail to Corrugation Corner.

Spending a lot of my youth living in the Pearl River Swamp in Mississippi snakes were just a part of my life mostly moccasins,and coral.

With over 40 years of climbing and tramping around the mountains and deserts all over the "tar nation" I have had numerous snake encounters mostly rattlers and bulls.

There is one encounter that stands out in my memory.
I was down in south Florida on a surfing and wind surfing trip and I was working for my father's marble fabricating company for some extra cash.

I was sent out to the small village of Okeechobee in the south central part of the state to do a marble paneling installation.

My helper and I were driving back to Ft.Pierce in one of the company pickups on an old two lane state highway with these narrow two lane concrete bridges that crossed the many canals and small streams.

As we approached one of those narrow bridges we noticed something that appeared like a log across the width of the bridge. My helper was driving and slowed to a stop. He started shouting "IT"S A SNAKE!".

Stretched out across the entire width of the bridge was a diamond back rattler.
Now, I wont start trying to explain just how big this bugga was, but, it was bigger than life it's self.

My helper was driving and said, "Let's run over him and sell the meat and hide."

I said, "Naw, I just kill him with that 8' 2x4 in the back of the truck."

So I got out and got this 8' stud and carefully approached the snake.

The bridge had concrete sides that were easily 4' high.

As I got closer with the 2x4 the snake started to stir and started to climb over the concrete side. He didn't coil and was just trying to escape.

His head was well over the top of the 4' railing and his tail was still in the middle of the road.

I noticed the size of his head and if I place my two hands side by side that is how big I remember his head was.

I came to the realization that the snake was much bigger than my weapon.
I just said, "F**K THIS!" and put the board back in the the bed of the truck and got back in my self.

My helper said, "That was very impressive."

We sat there and watched as the rattler negotiated the 4' concrete guard rail.

I must admit that I cringed as I watched this monster disappear.

All in all I'm told that that the snake we encountered was a big one but not uncommon in the swamps of central Florida.

bmdhacks wrote:On my first visit to Lover's Leap I came across two different rattlesnakes on the approach trail to Corrugation Corner.

Any trip to Lover's Leap isn't complete without a snake encounter.

Great stories and photos. 75 replies and nearly 6000 views. Keep it up!

If I had a dollar for every time I saw a snake on a climbing trip...

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BDergay wrote:Snake I saw up in Eldo Canyon last year.. I think it's a garter snake.

No, that's a kitten snake. You can pet them, and they make this little purrrrr sound.

ZakM wrote: What otherwise would have been a fantastic hold. Muay Thai Wall Railay east.

Is that a Ridley's Racer??

they like the bats

ZakM wrote: What otherwise would have been a fantastic hold. Muay Thai Wall Railay east.

Thats a cobra, zak... not sure which subspecies. There are four subspecies of cobra on the Phra Nang Peninsula

Sam Lightner, Jr. wrote: Thats a cobra, zak... not sure which subspecies. There are four subspecies of cobra on the Phra Nang Peninsula

Actually that is a ratsnake. Can't say with 100% certainty which species without looking up locality data. I suspect it is Elaphae taeniura ridleyi or blue beauty snake. I'm not much for common names, but Ridley's racer sounds like it could be correct.

keep the snakes coming!!!

Look like pretty sizeable venom glands...

I see em and walk on.

I think I may have read that Hand Sand in clinically proven to make you a better Snake Handler.
Hand Sand

On a belay and Devils Lake WI , a snake crawled off the branch next to my head and stuck its tongue out at me about an inch from my eye. creepy for a moment but I am sure it was harmless.

I reached to remove my cam from a crack on top of prospect point, devils lake wi. The trigger was out of the crack and as I reached to remove it, something told me to take a look into the crack first. I don't know what kind of snake it was, Its head was on the lobes of the cam. I turned my head to get the attention of my wife and when I turned back, the tail was disappearing into the crack.

I am grateful that poisonous snakes are rarely encountered in our parts!