Western Railroad Discussion > Has this ever happened to you?

I was enjoying a pleasant afternoon stroll through the Jordan River Narrows. I got a photo of a Utah Railway local that I was satisfied with and decided to headed back to the car.

And then suddenly...

(see the following thread)

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Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!

Yes, it was alive and slithering!

James

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Did you give it what it wanted - CTC Board, Trains, or some other railfan magazine? Obviously he likes trains too.

James,

You aren't kidding! The attached photo was taken at the Tehachapi overlook, a year and a half ago -- scared the (cow pie) out of me, but not quite so much that I couldn't take a brief moment to snap off a shot.

-Dave

(For those who don't see it right away, which is quite the purpose of its appearance, look between my left toes and the shadow.)

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Hi!

> Yes, it was alive and slithering!

Yep, I decided to pick up a pair of Chippewa snake boots, 1000 Denier Cordura Viper Cloth for Guaranteed Snake Bite Protection. Hot diggity, they're made in the USA! :-)

TB

Dave,

I like your footwear, though.

Don Hall
Yreka, CA

well, I can see this starting all kinds of arguments, but...the first pic looks like it's of a bull or gopher snake & the second one by the boot looks like a small rattler. Heck, I don't really know 'cause I wasn't there & you guys were.
Most of us have ran into these at one time or another. Sometimes you're the windshield & sometimes you're the bug!

Tom

Tom,

Yes, it was a pretty small rattler, about two feet long... But me being a city boy from the Northeast, coming across those things isn't exactly a commonplace occurance!

-Dave

Mike Danneman and I worked on the C&TS this past summer........and there were rattlers down there. But they were just little ones. A one-footer came out from under a tie one time as I was laying a track gauge on it. It really woke me up!!

Another time down on the C&TS this summer I was checking an overgrown culvert, looking into one end of it very carefully to see how badly it was silted up, when what we suspect was a weasel hissed at me. Now, you've got to understand that to check on the silting, you've got to get down to eyeball level on the culverts, some of which are pretty small. I figure that I cleared somewhere's about two feet off the ground......to the hysterics from my partner.

Anyway, that's my contribution!!!

RC Farewell

GrandeGold Wrote:
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> Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!
>
> Yes, it was alive and slithering!
>
> James

James-
Looks like it is the tail end that is hidden under the rail. I assume it was a bull snake since you didn't also mention "rattling"? Still, startling I'm sure!
Nice pic!
-Wes

Hey Sir Belmont, that's a bull snake, he's your friend and eats a lot of vermin. The viruses from the common mice out west like Sin Nombre virus, are much much worse than this fellow...

We have a couple of pet Bull snakes around the fire station. They really do keep the mice population down but they drive the office staff crazy. When one of them gets on the slick apparatus floor it's funny to see them squirm trying to get traction to get out of our way. We help them out with a few gentle shoves.
Lynn

tburzio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi!
>
> > Yes, it was alive and slithering!
>
> Yep, I decided to pick up a pair of Chippewa snake
> boots, 1000 Denier Cordura Viper Cloth for
> Guaranteed Snake Bite Protection. Hot diggity,
> they're made in the USA! :-)
>
> TB
>


Guaranteed Snake Bite Protection?

Life-time guarantee perhaps?

This is why you should always take along a change of underwear when you go out railfanning!

I'm up in the Cajon pass alot in the summer and I see lots of snakes.Its there home and you have to respect that and walk smartly.

Snake #1 yep Gopher or Bull snake, harmless & helpfull but will rattle. They do not have rattles but with dry leaves or brush can sound scary. I can't make snake #2 out but Rattlesnakes eat mice, rats, rabbits etc. Rattlers are helpfull BUT Dangerous! Steve

Set CONDITION BROWN!!!