[pct-l] "BuzzWorms"

[Scott Williams]

More BuzzWorm tales.

I train on Mt. Diablo in the Bay Area, as it is close by and nearly 4000
feet of often steep trails to the top.  In the summer it's got lots of
buzzworms (I like the name too) and usually a dirt clod or small stick
chucked at them is enough to get 'em to move off trail.  Not so one very hot
day last summer.  Coming down the south slopes I ran into a crowd of hikers
and trail bikers on either side of a really long, fat and lazy rattle
snake.  It must have just eaten, as no matter what folks threw at it, it
just lay there with its head and rattle in the air, but wouldn't budge, or
even shake its rattle at us.  Due to brush and the steepness of the slope,
there was no going around this old snake, and I had never seen one that
wouldn't take the hint from a direct hit.  Due to the length of the snake I
was not sure of using my hiking pole as a prod as he was a lot longer than
the pole.  Another trail biker rode up, saw the crowd and snake, and handed
me his water bottle and said "squirt him."   I wasn't sure what a little bit
of water would do that rocks and sticks wouldn't, but the second the water
hit that ol' boy, he almost lept into the air and zipped off that trail in a
heartbeat.  It was amazing.  Much less harm to the snake than my usual
methods might entail, but what a reaction.  So if you want to pack a weapon
on this hike, consider side arming with a squirt gun!  A nice pink one to
match the bandanna would be nice, and no one would mistake it for a real
gun.  Your fellow hikers could use a squirt now and then too.

Scott