Snake deterrent?

[89Industries]

So living on the Colorado front range we have rattle snakes. More than the Bay area where I used to live and did see one once. And I grew up in the midwest and didn't have them at all.

So my theory is that the weird sounds and vibrations of RC trucks scares off the snakes.

I have yet to see one on a trail drive with the tiny trucks. I have seen some while simply out hiking or riding bikes.

Anyone with more knowledge about this than my minimal to none?

I'd love to think it's true both for myself and because I like taking my 5 year old out on trail drives and sometimes he gets a bit further ahead than ideal. Would love to think his truck is scaring away the rattle snakes even if its not scaring off the mountain lions.

 

[grob23]

I am extremely fearful and cautious of snakes (of all types... it's a phobia for me)

While I've never encountered a rattler, I have stumbled across a few garder snakes and the occasional water snake while out looking for spots to run here in central Kansas.

My theory is to always send whatever RC I'm running in first, in hopes to they'll get spooked and not cause me to encounter them. Seems to have worked so far for snakes and marmots; doesn't work on bees

 

[89Industries]

I'm with you on all snakes as well. I've just encountered enough non-poisonous to not completely freak out when I encounter them.

I have run over many snakes in my 35 years of mountain biking but most are small garder snakes or black snakes back in Ohio. No rattlers to my knowledge.

 

[high plains drifter]

Any unnatural commotion will typically send snakes away. Venomous or not... confrontation is not what they want. Anytime that you can create noise in areas where there may be venomous or dangerous animals is a good thing.

What you need to be vigilant about in venomous snake country are dens and individual snakes that are camouflaged. This means not poking around in escarpments where there are hidden holes, voids, etc. And in that same suggestion, be mindful of heavy leaf litter and vegetation where snakes typically take shelter from the heat/ cold, and from other animals/ people.

Depending on your region, reptile activity increases at certain times of the day and of the season... as well as after heavy rains that will drive them from their dens or usual foraging areas. If you go out after a good rain and/ or if the temps are rising, there will generally be more reptile activity than during a stretch of status-quo conditions so be mindful of that. Dusk and dawn are also peak times for reptiles as they are cold blooded and will utilize the heat/ sun to regulate their internal temperatures.

In the US, rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins can be especially hard to see depending on the surroundings but all blend in to their environments and can be quite hard to spot until you're right up on them... copperheads and some types of rattlers are especially hard to distinguish in dry leaf matter and dry vegetation. Carrying a staff/ long stick/ pole to occasionally scuff the ground in front of you isn't a bad idea as well if venturing off trails with heavy vegetative debris although having a free-hand while trialing RC's isn't all that manageable.

My final experience on all of this is also to consider that rattlesnakes do NOT always advertise their location in rattling their tails. Also other factors come into play with this such as younger rattlesnakes often not having enough segments/ keratin to produce much of an audible sound, and wind direction. On several occasions, I've found myself standing right alongside of a rattlesnake that was sounding the alarm but I failed to hear it due to strong breezes going the wrong way as well as creating other sounds from dry vegetation.

One last thing, I don't advise utilizing traditional snake-bite ( venom extraction) kits out on the trail. You can do more harm than good and in particular situations you can actually increase the risk of necrosis. You do want to remove or loosen restrictive clothing and you can flush/ rinse with cold water but aside from that ( and staying calm), the best plan is to get to an ER immediately.

Be mindful of the area that you're in for the wildlife that exists there and stay alert and use common sense out on the trail and you'll likely never have a dangerous encounter. It's when people get lax or do dumb things that they become much more greatly at risk.

 

[89Industries]

HPD, great info. I try not to go off trail just for the reasons you state but every once in a while retrieving a truck from off trail is necessary. Think I'll start grabbing a branch to poke around first or maybe there is a lightweight packable walking stick that is relatively cheap just to stick in my trail backpack just in case its needed.

I also really like going out in winter here. Snow often melts leaving dry or just slightly moist trails and I know 55 degrees or less is likely too cold for snakes to be out even if it is super sunny.

I read an article a while ago that pointed out that rattlesnakes in some areas are losing their rattle. The idea was that the ones that rattled notified humans and often got killed. The "defective" ones with non-functioning rattles were surviving and getting to breed more non-rattling rattle snakes.

That said copperheads and others don't rattle anyway.

Bike encounters are more frequent because its quiet, fast moving and I am often the first person or riding alone and I just happen to surprise the snake as its crossing the trail.

 

[high plains drifter]

Yep I've read that too regarding the evolutionary rattle loss. Don't have any real-world experience with that but it does at least seem plausible.

Biggest issues I've had mountain-biking in Texas has been with alligators... kayaking at night time can be a bit unsettling as well but it's the mama alligators with young or when you get too close to a nest that you really have to be wary. Some of the waterways and lakes down here are just lousy with gators.

And a quick one about a memorable rattlesnake encounter here in Texas... We were at a rock crawling venue ( full size rigs) and a series of vehicles going up the same granite outcropping finally took it's toll and dislodged a couple large granite shelves. After everyone finally made it to the top, the vehicular noises died down and we could hear this sort of echoing buzz. Well, it was coming from in between those granite chunks and when we peered down into the voids, it was just teaming with rattlers... dozens and dozens... and by this time they were coming out from everywhere around the granite. No one was bitten iirc but that den must've been huge for them to producing such an audibly ominous sound.

 

[89Industries]

And I thought the reason I never wanted to live in Austin was the heat. Sheesh. I'll take bears, bobcats and mountain lions any day over alligators and the other stuff down there. And I have had both bears and bobcats in my yard in the last few months. I've also started carrying bear spray if I go up in the mountains to ride or tiny truck drive.

As soon as you said a truck dislodged a granite shelf I got the heeby jeebies and knew the den discovery was coming.

The reason rattle snakes were on my mind was about a month ago my wife and I went for a hike on some of the trails I take the trucks. Came up to a low wood boardwalk that was put in because the section gets muddy at times. For whatever reason I thought I should stomp on it just to warn the snakes, not that I had ever seen a snake on that trail before. Sure enough, I go stomp, snake goes rattle and I just caught view of the tail sliding under the boardwalk. After I stopped freaking out and a bit after the snake stopped rattling, we took turns doing a full sprint across the boardwalk. Didn't want to be late picking up our kid from my parents and it was a long way to detour around.

Next time I went back to that trail with the tiny truck there was a sign up warning of rattle snake sightings.

 

[high plains drifter]

Oh man... yeah those rattlers can be quite unnerving depending on the circumstances. And their demeanor can be anything from docile to downright aggressive. Once they feel threatened, all bets are off and they've got a pretty lengthy strike zone to boot. I've encountered quite a few of em up in the panhandle as well as west-central and west Texas. Where I live outside of Austin it's more water moccasins, coral snakes, and copperheads but we have a good number of rattlesnakes in the more rural areas here. Old friend of mine did survey work for a number of years and in the warmer months would have run-ins with diamond backs almost weekly... multiples within a single week, not uncommon. High-top thick leather boots and sharp machetes were standard issue.

I've never seen any gators around the parks, lakes, etc within the Austin city limits but when I lived down by the coast and did a lot of camping, mtn-biking, and camping throughout southeast Texas... alligators were very prevalent. Kayaking at night was a bit spooky because in the cypress lowlands there were just so damn many of em. If you spotlighted the water at night you'd see eyes literally everywhere... and of course in the shallower areas you never knew if what you were feeling/ hearing along the bottom of the kayak were cypress roots ( knees) or an alligator. And with non-motorized watercraft the orchestra of grunts and chortles made things a bit eerie.

I've got an old photograph that my ex-g/f took of me after I had ventured off a single-track at a place called Brazos Bend State Park where I was standing at the water's edge ( daytime) trying to figure out what was creating these little splashes and ripples in the water. As I was bending down to try to get a better look, my g/f ( a few yards back up on the trail) shouted "Don't move!". I froze and it all hit me at once... They were baby gators and the mother had surfaced just several yards away... looking dead at me. I stood there for what seemed like forever and finally she went back under but I had no idea what her intent was. So I very slowly moved my bike in between myself and the water in case she was going to charge or lunge. She didn't and I backed up the hill never taking my eyes off the water but I'll always remember that particular incident. That place was just stupid with gators... It was common to have to yield right of way to a gator that was crossing the trail or single-track although many of those were younger ( under 3-4 ft) while the big ones tended to reside further away from the active heavily trafficked areas of the park.

I had an encounter with a mountain lion once out in a place called Big Bend National Park but that story is for another day, as well as with a family of black bears at a place called Stillwell Ranch in west Texas. Neither of those occurrences resulted in anything more than some tense moments but when you're many many miles from civilization, you become acutely aware of how vulnerable you are. Black bears don't worry me unless it's a mother with cubs. Mountain lions... especially injured or sick give me the heebiest of jeebies as they're quite unpredictable and often seeking prey outside of their normal diet... ie: slow moving hikers lol.

 

[diezel666]

Oh man... yeah those rattlers can be quite unnerving depending on the circumstances. And their demeanor can be anything from docile to downright aggressive. Once they feel threatened, all bets are off and they've got a pretty lengthy strike zone to boot. I've encountered quite a few of em up in the panhandle as well as west-central and west Texas. Where I live outside of Austin it's more water moccasins, coral snakes, and copperheads but we have a good number of rattlesnakes in the more rural areas here. Old friend of mine did survey work for a number of years and in the warmer months would have run-ins with diamond backs almost weekly... multiples within a single week, not uncommon. High-top thick leather boots and sharp machetes were standard issue.

The wife hikes regularly, and she's seen her fair share of Western Rattlesnakes. So have I over the years. Luckily there's a decent food supply for them where we hike normally, and they're not (usually) super aggressive. Many of them are just plain out stupid, and sun themselves in the trails, where there's less brush or tree cover. The good news there is, they're generally warm enough, and spotted you before you did them and are on their way out of your path. This part annoys the bicyclists, but I always advise people, if the trail is wide enough and you need to stop. Do so in the middle of the trail. If there is a snake nearby, it won't be far from the sun light baked trail unless you're in the rocky areas.

I'm an idiot, and less fearful of the Mountain Lions and Bobcats. Cause if I die, just know I died petting the damn thing.

 

[89Industries]

Previous to Colorado I lived in Oakland/San Jose/Santa Cruz for about 15 years.

Only 1 rattlesnake at China camp in all that time.

2 tarantulas crossing the trail in San Jose.

Saw 4 or 5 bobcats but they didn't even pay attention to us they were so busy hunting rodents.

But what most freaked me out was riding up aptos fire road in nisene marks after work which was essentially mountain lion dinner time. So many dark, shady high spots next to the trail for them to just wait and pounce on a rider or hiker coming by. Lucky no encounters, but but does your head start spinning. And I agree with diezel666, love cats so not the worst way to go in my opinion.

 

[Gula]

Carry a Mongoose with you.

 

[Greatscott]

Back in the hey-day of comp crawling in SoCal, a lot of the comp spots were ripe with rattle snakes. For the most part, if you leave them along, they were leave you alone. The danger comes when you surprise each other.

At one comp, the courses were laid out, the driver briefing was done, then we saw a rattle snake had decided to sun itself, about 18 inches from a gate. Thankfully, the gate was not that difficult, and the drivers did not need to be terribly close to our trucks to navigate it successfully. We drive about two dozen rigs right passed the rattler, and the snake only seemed to be mildly interested in the trucks, watching them as they went by. It never coiled, it never rattled. Eventually it got bored and slanked its way back into its den.