[pct-l] Snakes and insects

[David Thibault]

>
> Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:53:12 -0800
> From: "Brian Lewis" <brianle8 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [pct-l] Snakes and insects
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
>
>
> There are lots of first-person accounts out there about encounters with
> snakes.  I started with the herd this year, the day after the kickoff.  At
> the kickoff I recall someone saying that snake encounters are fairly rare
> and that we should appreciate the opportunity if we get it.   I saw my
> first
> snake the first day, almost stepped on it, and had another such encounter
> some days later, plus a couple less up-close-and-personal encounters, and
> my
> experience was far from unique.   Everyone is different, but having never
> hiked in rattlesnake country before, I was (oddly) if anything even more
> comfortable about it after my first encounter.    The snake seemed quite
> polite: once I jumped away and it was clear I wasn't attacking him, he (or
> she) quickly slithered into a crack in the rock, so my biggest
> post-adrenalin reaction was of disappointment that I couldn't take a
> picture.   I'm not trying to paint a picture of me as a rugged outdoor hero
> type, just that the interaction reinforced for me that with a little
> caution, the odds are that snakes are not a problem.    Ditto cowboy
> camping; various people expressed concern about "things crawling over my
> face" or the like, but I think this too is something one becomes more
> comfortable with after just doing it for a while.
>
> The thing that's reassuring to me is that a whole lot of thru-hikers I
> talked with in the first few weeks had snake encounters and I didn't hear
> of
> anyone being bit.   It boils down to statistics to me; It's not hyperbole
> when I say that I feel safer on the trail (in or out of snake country) than
> I do when driving on the freeway.
>
> If you look at the actual statistics on snake bites in the US.  You find
that the typical snake byte involves a young male and typically alcohol is a
factor.  My theory is you just have to watch out for adolecent male snakes
that start drinking a few too many beers, and then decide it would be fun to
go out and mess with some humans.  All the other snakes should pretty much
leave you alone.   For this reason I would also never offer a beer to any
snake.

 Happy New Year,  Day-late