Tell me about rattle snakes

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wbwanzer

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Next week my wife and I and a 10 year old (boy) relative will be going to Elk country in northern Pennsylvania. We went a few years ago and enjoyed it. There is a wonderful, fairly new visitor center there which the boy will like, as will we. While in that area we are planning to hike a roughly four mile trail called the 'Fred Woods Trail'. The trail has great reviews but I'm concerned about rattle snakes this time of year. One of the reviewers of the trail said it would be best to go in the spring or fall because of the snakes in summer. Now, I'm not a fan of any sort of snake let alone rattlers. So I'm asking for any advice about those snakes. Do they want to avoid humans as much as we want to avoid them? Or are they aggressive, looking for a fight? I have never seen one in the wild and hope that we don't. But it sounds like a possibility. Any advice on how to deal with them if we run across one? Obviously we will avoid if at all possible.

Thanks.
 
If you look up the statistics, you'll probably find that there are probably 1 or 2 bites per year in the whole state and maybe a resulting fatality every decade or three.

Wear long pants, carry a hiking stick and maybe some gaiters if you're really nervous and hike away.
 
Snakes are not interested in attacking you unless you get very close to them and they feel threatened. Watch the trail carefully and if you see/hear anything, simply walk around it. Taking a walking stick with you about 6 feet long is a good idea as you can probe an area that seems suspicious without putting your hands and feet in jeopardy. I have hunted for decades in central PA and have yet to come across a rattler in the wild although I know other hunters who have.

Down in South Carolina, my wife and I were on an Audobon nature Trail in a swamp and a cotton mouth slithered right over her shoes as we were stopped to watch a wading bird.
 
ripcord said:
If you look up the statistics, you'll probably find that there are probably 1 or 2 bites per year in the whole state and maybe a resulting fatality every decade or three.

Wear long pants, carry a hiking stick and maybe some gaiters if you're really nervous and hike away.
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Agree … I have been around them plenty and fortunately when I did not see them the snakes buzzed up and I have never been bitten. Good hiking boots, a walking stick, take your time, and keen focus … Enjoy …
 
By all means take a shovel, a hiking stick, and a .357 with shot shells. Wear long pants, high leather boots, gaiters, and have 911 on speed dial. Seriously, I grew up in NW Pa and spent countless hours in 48 years as a kid and adult in the woods all year long hiking, camping, hunting, mountain biking, etc. and can remember seeing 2 rattlesnakes. If you would see one on a 4 mile hike on your only trip ever to Elk County it would be a gift for your son to remember. IF you would see one keep your distance, take a pic and leave it alone. They aren't aggressive but don't want to be stepped on. Stay on the trail, look ahead and be aware, look before you step over a log or rock, and have a great time. Beautiful country there.

Here in Arizona in 15 years I can't count how many rattlesnakes we've seen including Diamondback, Timber, Mohave, and a rare Arizona Black.
 
Snakes are awesome, but be careful. Boots, long pants, and walking stick. Watch where you're stepping and stay on the trail. They're not out hunting you and will only be aggressive when pushed too far or feel threatened.
 
We'd walk on hills which were wooded but had patches of bare rock.

We were always told that snakes like to bask. Keep a lookout for such patches of rock where they'd lie upon warmed rock in hot sunlight.

I guess this would go double for climbing rocks where you'd reach up and awaken the little darlings.
I suppose you could carry a weighted rope to toss up over your head to scoot the thing before you tempt him to bite you.

Anybody see the Australian video of the guy who was bitten by a rattler (I'm pretty sure) but had to wait for medics?
The venom included a "digestive starter" and the doctor followed the patient's blood vessels up from his hand to his arm into his shoulder and into the side of his neck...cutting all the way. Liquified, black, digested flesh ooozed out the entire way.

You'll be OK in PA.
 
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I remember stopping at the Wiley’s Well rest area near the California Arizona border. 110F outside and a sign on the path headed to the restrooms to watch for rattlesnakes. My wife needed some assurance that there were none inside the lavatories.
 
I've seen plenty of them in South Dakota when I was a boy on a farm. In the summer rattlers would hide under the hay bales in the field where it was cool and shady. We knew they might be lurking when we collected the bales so somebody always was ready with a long metal pike.

They are not aggressive unless you surprise them or step on them. Wear boots and be aware if you suspect they are around. In the woods I'm more concerned about coming across a bear.
 
I live in a tract home development in a Rattlesnake infested area but have not seen any myself, knock on wood. My nextdoor neighbor has killed 3 on his property (including 1 inside of his garage) within the last 12 months. Supposedly they are not aggressive but you need to keep an eye out.
 
It sounds like this place has maintained trails. Stay on the trails and you'll be fine. If a snake is there you'll be able to see it, but don't let worrying about snakes spoil your fun.

I grew up on a farm in rattlesnake country, and somehow never saw one in the wild. I have also hiked trails all around the country, and only encountered two rattlers, at different times, on the same trail near Reno. I heard one down in the rocks where the trail crossed a patch of talus. The other was in an open grassy area past the end of the trail.
 
We have Rattlers all over my area. I always watch for them here. I have had them cross the trail in front of me. I walked over one out in the Desert before I realized it. I wasn't paying attention. It was coiled up in the sand and never moved. I have never had one strike at me. I do know a guy that was bit but he was in a very remote area of the Desert working.
All you have to do is keep your eyes open and pay attention to what you are doing. A walking stick is a great idea.
 
The Critic said:
I live in a tract home development in a Rattlesnake infested area but have not seen any myself, knock on wood. My nextdoor neighbor has killed 3 on his property (including 1 inside of his garage) within the last 12 months. Supposedly they are not aggressive but you need to keep an eye out.
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The guy in the house above us on the hill has a permenant rattler in his garage. Says it keeps the rodents out of his hot rod LOL!
 
I am 65 and have lived in the South Hills of Pittsburgh all my life. I have hunted rabbit, duck, goose, deer, turkey, and camped and cannoned the woods and rivers North of Pittsburgh including Elk county. And in all those years I have only seen two rattle snakes or cotton mouths, I can't be sure of telling one from the other, and also what probably was a water moccasin that was swimming in deep water in a lake near a dam, down below Union Town while I was high on a hill on a bank.

When I was a kid I saw the first rattle snake on a dirt road about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh that my dad and I were walking on. My dad picked up a very dead tree limb that was about 20 feet long and had a Y near the top, and used it to pick up the snake and put in in the woods beside the road. The other rattle snake I saw was only a few blocks away from my house in the South Hills of Pittsburgh about 40 years ago when I was riding a 175 CC Yamaha street and trail motorcycle with knobby tires. I stood up on the pegs as I went by it and it struck and bit the back tire without putting a hole in it. Probably the noise of the engine startled it.

I walk in some local woods almost every day that it does not rain if it is warm enough, and the only time I seriously look for snakes is when I am about to step over any log that has fallen across the path. I do not worry about them if I can see the trail, it is the blind spots on the other side of a log that I pay attention to.

If you are really concerned, pick up a walking stick and if you have to cross any logs probe and sweep the other side of every log before anyone steps over them, if you have to step over any logs, which are rare. There is a good chance that during any walk you will not have any logs across the trail if it is a popular trail.


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There are some Huge bolders in the woods in Elk county that I use to climb on top of and use the view to hunt for deer. Never got one though.

The boulders are said to have been carried to that area by the huge glacier during the ice age and left there when the glacier melted.
 
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