Snakes on the trail

I've run over at least one (garter) snake.
There was a long (3'😉 snake that I did a rolling hop over.
It was across the trail and there was nothing else I could do.
I don't think it was a harmful snake though.

As far as snakes go, I think you will be OK as long as you keep pedaling
- even if you run over a rattler.

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You're lucky you only ran across ONE snake. Here's an story from a
friend of mine that happened in one of my favorite Muniing places:

So I have my wife drop me off at Mainland so I can start working on
getting the Phase II trails started. Things are going good and then I
come up to a sheet of plywood. "OK... There's a snake under there I
bet."

I use my weed whacker to hook the edge of the plywood and give it a tug
up... My brain sees a 14 ft rattlesnake and I squeal and jump back 8
feet by simply flexing my toes.

I compose myself, dab the wet spot off the front of my pants, and decide
to use the plywood as a wall when I pull it up. Put it between me and
the snake and then shoo it away with the whacker. It worked... I had to
convince the snake. Not a rattler though, not 14 feet either. More like
5 foot. He sneaks off into the grass and I pull the plywood out of the
area. Now there's a second sheet of plywood I have to deal with...

I figure I'm smart now. The wall trick worked great. No danger. Snake 0
Trapper 1. So I get in position with the second sheet of plywood and
give it a tug too. "Holy [censored] there's TWO!" So here I am looking at two
more of the same snakes and I don't know what there are. "SHOO!! SHOO
damnit!" They finally are convinced to leave or die (a weed whacker can
convert into a snake whacker in an instant) and I move the plywood over
to where I put the other one. Snakes 0 Trapper 3.

So, by now I figure that there are 3 unknown species of snake roaming in
the tall grass that I'm working in. Time to wrap it up and move to
another section. I start walking across the bare, wide open, dried up
section of the area I'm in... heading toward where I'm going to start
cutting again. I get about 40 yards and suddenly I'm within 4 feet of
Sneaky Snake. I get to do the 8 foot two flex spot pants jump again... I
don't know if it was one of the 3 I displaced or another one. All I know
is that it was snake sighting #4.

I shoo him off into the grass and keep going. Not working there
either... I find a snake free zone and cut out a huge pile of dead limbs
which creates a very nice section of of single track. About 2 hours
later I decide to wrap it up and head back. I get to the same damn spot
I saw snake # 4 and there he is again. He sees me this time and heads
for a ceder tree. Next thing I know he's climbing it. When he gets
higher than my head he stops and looks at me as if to say "Your move..."
By now I'm beginning to wonder what the deal is with all the snakes on
this side of the bridge. 5 snake sightings in under 3 hours. Sheesh...

Wanting to scope out where everything is going to connect, I start
heading up the jeep trail that leads away from Mainland and toward HEB
at Guibeau. I get over the broken pavement section that used to be a
road and walk through the wash. At one point you're about chest deep in
it. I look to my right and AHHHHH!!! Coral snake! Damnit! 6 snake
sightings! WTF!

Now I'm really wondering what the hell is going on. I keep going on up
the jeep trail and as I exit the woods I decide to walk the embankment
on the right rather than continue walking up the jeep road. Right before
i get to the bridge I stop under a big oak on the bank and dial the wife
to have her get some ice tea ready. As its ringing I'm thinking about
telling her about all the snakes. I look to my right and there 4 feet
away from me is another damn snake! 7 friggin snake sightings. 6 of one
type, and 1 Coral. That's it. Honey, come pick me up....

I'm pretty sure this is species that is all over the place down there.
The common Texas Rat Snake.

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Krashin'Kenny said:

*6 of one type, and 1 Coral. That's it. Honey, come pick me up....

I'm pretty sure this is species that is all over the place down there.
The common Texas Rat Snake. *

If I remember correctly, there is a faux Coral snake out there.
It would help tremendously if you posted a pic of a 'Texas Rat Snake'
(http://www.houstonherp.com/TxRat.html)

I'd jump at the sight of that too! 😄

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Round here in the Australian Alps, we have black, brown and tiger
snakes. Blacks are OK, browns are not really nice and tigers scare the
[censored] out of me. They are really deadly!

In spring they are really cranky after waking up.

After seeing a snake on on a track, the rest of the ride is jumpy. I
always think "WAS THAT THING THAT I JUST PASSED A SNAKE'. Usually it was
a stick or a bit of bark.

Solutions

a. Ride a Coker. Then the snakes have to jump a bit higher.
b. Have a first aid kit and a mobile
c. Move to New Zealand. They don't have snakes.
d. Stay on your lounge chair. Don't do anything!

At least in Australia we dont have grizzleys, lions, tigers or leopards
to eat u.

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Yeah, Australia's not the best place for a snake-o-phobe like me. 🙂
Neither's muni the best hobby really.

I rode with Tony Melton in New Zealand a few months ago and I couldn't
believe when they told me there were no snakes there. I didn't have to
look where I was walking anymore...it was fantastic!

I think I hopped over a bunch of logs with a snake behind it once but I
didn't stop to check it out so I can't be sure. 🙂

Actually there was a great trials line I was planning on doing one day
but chickened out when I saw a (harmless) green tree snake in a tree
above me.

Andrew

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wear some good snake proof boots, those with your 661's should help, as
long as you aren't bit in the back of the leg.

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Yeh,
I neva thought of 661s as what we call gaiters. We wear gaiter when we
are walking in the bush.

A new marketing angle for 661s

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ok so sunny england scores a point for having no livestock that can
cause havok with the wery trials rider, unless you count the occasinal
angry house cat.

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juggling_guy said:

*ok so sunny england scores a point for having no livestock that can
cause havok with the wery trials rider, unless you count the occasinal
angry house cat. *

<http://gallery.unicyclist.com/albuq87/DSC01119>

Except Adders. I think this was when I was muni riding at Swinley Forest
near Bracknell. It didn't seem particularly interested in me though, I
got nice and close to take the picture.

Joe

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I need to chime in here. I've spent a lifetime studying snakes in the
American southwest. Not much to worry about in N. AZ. You probably saw
a gopher snake, commonly called a bullsnake in these parts. Same thing
as the Texas Rat Snake just a different local name. They can run in
varying colorations from yellows and greens to browns. I caught a very
nice specimen in far southern Arizona a couple of weeks ago and it was
very yellow (just gave him a good look and then turned him loose). As
for poisonous snakes in the area you could encounter the Arizona Black
Rattlesnake, the Black Tailed Rattlesnake or the Western Diamondback.
The Diamondback is the most dangerous as they are relatively aggresive
and territorial. They occur VERY rarely at the 7000 ft. elevation.
Pretty common if you trail ride in Sedona though. The others are
relatively docile (as rattlesnakes go) and are unlikely to strike unless
they feel cornered or if you step on/roll over one. At this time of
year it's still too cold up here to have any kind of snake be very
active. They may crawl out to a sunny spot on the trail to warm
themselves but they'll tend to be lethargic. I like to road bike in the
Sedona area and I frequently see Rattlesnakes on the pavement in the
early morning sunning themselves.

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for any long MUni rides, you ought to take some sort of first aid kit
with snake bite shtuff in it, so you don't die. dying can be a bad thing
sometimes.

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billblogs wrote:*At least in Australia we dont have

Quoted message said:

grizzleys, lions, tigers or leopards to eat u. *

I bet the gargantuan spiders, cockroaches & ants scared them out of that
corner of Pangaea way back when. 😄

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Ahh Sunday morning. I thought I would ride a cycle path in unfamiliar
territory for a change. 30 mins into it I admired a beautiful classic
Aussie farmhouse which I was approaching.

Day dreaming yeh nice old place, could do with a renovation etc and then
a bloody huge dog plus its yap yap friend came screeming out of the yard
and both tried to attack me. Sort of looking like Louis the Fly from
space in my gear spooked the dog as well. Instant dismount (can't out
accelerate a dog I thought) and I has to use the Coker wheel as a sort
of mobile dog cage between me and the dog.

No one came out of the farm house to save me, so a long eye to eye
psychological battle ensued. I did not have to use the Coker as a weapon
but It took a while for me to slowly but surley get out of its
territory.

Instead of using the Coker as a weapon I might take a Jim Bowie kinife
with me in the future!!!!!

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Well here in NZ we don't have any dangerous (cool) animals in the wild
to worry us....its annoying in a way, you guys all have cool lions and
bears and snakes etc....we might see a bird on our journeys...I guess it
is good because we don't have to worry, but still we dont have any cool
animals like that.

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billblogs said:

a bloody huge dog plus its yap yap friend

What is a yap yap friend?

Quoted message said:

I has to use the Coker wheel as a sort
of mobile dog cage between me and the dog.

I've done the same, only this was with a German shepherd (the dog, I
mean). But luckily there was an owner around to help me out.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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billblogs said:

a bloody huge dog plus its yap yap friend

What is a yap yap friend?

Quoted message said:

I has to use the Coker wheel as a sort
of mobile dog cage between me and the dog.

I've done the same, only this was with a German shepherd (the dog, I
mean). But luckily there was an owner around to help me out.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
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billblogs said:

a bloody huge dog plus its yap yap friend

What is a yap yap friend?

Quoted message said:

I has to use the Coker wheel as a sort
of mobile dog cage between me and the dog.

I've done the same, only this was with a German shepherd (the dog, I
mean). But luckily there was an owner around to help me out.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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Again, am thankful I don't live anywhere where you are in danger of
being mortally wounded (except when I try something stupid) every time I
go riding :p. Although the UK has the adder, I think its pretty amiable
as snakes go with its little head and fat body, it just looks too daft
to take seriously.

Loose.

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A yap yap friend was a local small dog breed known as a 'Jack Russell".
They are the kinda dog that you just feel like riding over or kicking or
flushing down a toilet. On their own they try to nip, but here is the
catch.....they are great at stirring up their bigger friends by
continuing barking when all the drama should be over.

Don't get me wrong. I love pet dogs UNDER CONTROL!

Wild dogs breeding here in the bush breeding with the native Dingos are
becoming a problem.

How does one defend agains a dog, either suburban or otherwise?

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