[pct-l] Cold weather gear in Sierra; Snakes in Bags

[Christine Kudija" <cmkudija@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Christine Kudija)]

Karen - love the comment that a rattlesnake at night "would hear the beating
of a human heart and know better than to approach.  It would be like our
reaction if Godzilla tromped through downtown."  Especially when adrenaline
kicks in and you can hear your own heart thudding, excluding your ability to
hear what's outside your tent!

Re: scorpions - I have had the experience of lifting a groundcloth in the
desert in the morning and seeing a scorpion fall from it...near where my
face was not ten minutes before!  (oh goody)  On a biology field trip to the
Mojave years ago, our professor demonstrated turning over cobbles to find
the critters sheltering beneath - it's amazing what lifeforms lurk under
such apparently minimal shelter to survivie the day's heat.

I think that paying attention is the best defense against larger arthropods,
reptiles & mammals - (as DEET is for the small ones!)

Christine "Ceanothus" Kudija

"Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top.
Then you will see how low it was."  Dag Hammarskjold