Yes, that's very wise to wear ankle high boots.  I should note that when I was bitten I was moving quickly with only soft water-shoes.  I had gotten my hiking boots wet trying to photograph a small waterfall.  If I had had them on, the snake would have sunk it's fangs just into my boots - or perhaps have heard me and fled before I neared it.  I think I just surprised it, and it had not felt the vibrations of my approach.  I'll also note that the bite itself was not really painful at all!  It just felt like light pressure - something grabbing at me about the achilles heel area. But little did I know the pain WOULD come! (mostly during the months when all the dead tissue was being renewed) 

My fear of snakes (there is a proper name for that phobia only I can't for the life of me remember what it is) was so severe, I would have panic attacks when I saw one no matter what kind it was. I couldn't look at a picture of one and, believe it or not, I couldn't even say the word. I finally went through a behavior modification program at Stanford University to overcome it because it was preventing me from doing what I love - hiking. They still startle me, but I don't have panic attacks anymore and I can look at pictures. Good thing too, because there are a few on this site.

I envy all of you who can see a rattler and not get sick. There are some hikes I won't do after May 1st (Dog Mountain being on of them).

HikingGrandma:

Did you have some kind of bad experience that caused your problem with snakes? If you can't even look at a picture, that's pretty extreme.

I know a lot of people who are afraid of snakes.

Wow! Talk about a worst case situation.  Was there perminant damage?

That is a rare encounter.  Nice job!

That is a rare encounter.  Nice job 

I was hiking on Leadbetter Point last fall. It was a nice day and I surprised a coyote taking a nap, he jumped up about ten feet away from me and took off like his tail was on fire. I could hear his paws digging for traction. He also suprised me as well. Here is a shot I took on the same hike.

                         

Fred:

HikingGrandma:

Did you have some kind of bad experience that caused your problem with snakes? If you can't even look at a picture, that's pretty extreme.

I know a lot of people who are afraid of snakes.

Yes, there were several incidents when I was about 10 years old. Once, in Dunsmuir, Cal, I came close to a coiled rattler at dusk. My father heard the rattler, paniked and just about threw me down an embankment into the Sacramento River. Kind of funny when I think back on it. That was a long time ago, but it instilled a fear that has been very hard to overcome, but I still work at it. I still wonder at the fact that neither my father or I were bitten.

That is definitely the worst bite I have ever heard of, you are lucky you lived to tell the story. My dog got bit on the nose by a rattler when my brother took her hiking in AZ but that is the closest any of us has ever come to being bitten. I guess he was a few hundred feet behind the dog when it happened. Her nose swelled up like a balloon but other than that she was fine.

Joerunner,

   There doesn't seem to be any permanent damage from my bite.  However the doctor did tell me something interesting.  He said that my body would have 2 reactions to the bite - one an allergy would develop, so that if I get bit again it might be worse, and two - for 6 months after the bite I would have been "immune."  Luckily I never got to find out.

Cornbread,

   Yeah, it was a pretty bad bite.  From what I learned, a lot depends on the size of the snake, the health of the snake, and the amount of venom they decide to use.  Often bites from small snakes are worse because they don't have control over the amount of venom they use, and just give you all of it. Large snakes will often 'dry bite' or give you less.  However, if a large snake gets freaked out and doses you with all of their venom (as mine seemed to have done) you can be in trouble!  Most rattler deaths occur from large timber rattlers that weigh a ton. (though other rattlers including the Mojave green are actually more venomous).

   It also didn't help that I had to hike out, pumping the venom through my entire system.  So a lot of things contributed to the severity and overall impact of my bite.  It can be a very painful experience!

-Zach

I was backpacking on the Olympic NP coast north of Cape Alava. The tide was way out and I came upon a stranded Sea Otter. It appeared alive and well but very unhappy. It was crying in a high pitched voice. It was also very slow and uncoordinated on solid ground. So much so I was able to feel its fur and it was very plush. Its no wonder they were hunted so heavely for thier fur, any way it was really cool to see one up close.

...

About twenty miles away from where the cougar pic was taken the local fire department got called out to a rural individuals home to deal with a problem. When they got there this was the problem, a nest of hybernating Mojave Greens (rattlesnakes) had emerged from their winters hole all at once right in this guys back yard. They told him to call fish and wildlife because they had idea how to deal with it. Not sure what fish and wildlife did about it because the who told me was with the fire crew.

Wow,...now that's a scary bunch of critters!  It still strikes me as odd that they hibernate in communal dens!  They seem like such fiercely independent creatures.  Great pic. - those are perhaps the most potent of all rattlers.  I hope the gentleman whose backyard they are enjoying embarked on a little rattler relocation project at that point!

-Zach

zach... where did it get you?  thats a freaky experience!

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jamey pyles