I went for a short hike in the desert this morning with my friend Les. Hiking along a wash, we saw an old mine shaft up on the hill and decided to check it out.
We climbed up to it, and it looked like it went back in for a ways, at a slight downward slope. I didn’t have a real flashlight, but I used the Flashlight app on my Android phone and started down. The mine shaft was only 4 feet wide. I was watching where I was going, but there were lots of largish rocks that I was stepping on, and I couldn’t see down into the shadows very well.
About 20 feet in, I heard a rustling sound by my feet. I couldn’t see anything, and then I heard it again, slightly behind me. I finally saw the 3-4 foot long rattlesnake, about a foot away, between me and the entrance. I jumped forward, further into the mine and it let out a strong rattle, pulling its head back with its neck in an “S” shape, ready to strike.
So there I was, down a narrow mine shaft with a rattlesnake between me and the exit. The shaft was too narrow to get by him, and the shaft ended about 20 feet further in. No exit that way.
The snake sat there, semi-coiled, facing towards me, and it was a standoff. I tossed a small stone towards him and unfortunately hit him on the tail, which caused him to come towards me a little. I climbed up on a ledge, out of his reach and pondered the situation.
I found a few more stones and tossed them at the snake, trying to hit between him and me, to scare him into going the other way. After a few stones he turned and started to move away. I lost sight of him as he crawled under a rock, but Les was watching from the outside and assured me that he was under a large rock and should be safe for me to come out past him, which I hurriedly did.
It made for an interesting morning!
(Above) Looking down into the mine, after I had escaped. You can see the snake just right of the center of the picture, on the right side of the mineshaft, draped over the rock. You can just see the edge of the left side of the shaft on the left edge of the picture.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Les Landrum // Sep 22, 2011 at 11:59 am
An accurate account I would say. Glad I stayed outside.
2 Richard // Sep 22, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Yep. Les, you were the smart one. I think in this instance the saying about Momma not raising any fools doesn’t hold up.
Glad you made it out of his house unscathed. Maybe it’s time to start carrying a good flashlight on these hikes, or staying out of dark mine shafts.
3 Mom // Sep 22, 2011 at 8:07 pm
For once, I have no comment. I am speechless; just a few gasps and shudders.
4 Donna // Sep 22, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Yikes!
Don’t know if I ever told you we had a baby rattlesnake in our office at work a couple years ago. Fortunately, our security officer was well experienced with working with snakes, and grabbed it behind the head and took it outside. He told us he had been bitten more times than he could count, once by a baby and they are the worst. They don’t know how to control their venom and give it all in a big shot. But fortunately, he was not bitten that day. Also fortunately, we are not in that office building anymore. But most fortunately, you were not bitten today.
Be careful out there! (And have a great time next week with Dale and Karen.)
5 Don // Sep 23, 2011 at 10:29 am
Wow that brings back memories.
Dennis and I used to hike around the area at the end of Silverbell when we lived out there.
One day we were coming down the hill and I was about to put my hand on a rock when I noticed a green color on it. I pulled back and saw a rattlesnake about the same size as yours. Luckily I wasn’t trapped in a mineshaft and could get around it.
Glad yours turned out well. Careful of those snakes and crawlies.
6 Mom // Sep 24, 2011 at 11:21 am
Was it a Diamondback, or didn’t you waste time studying its ethnicity?
7 Mom // Sep 24, 2011 at 2:15 pm
By enlarging the picture, I think I can see a diamond. Is it in the lower half?