It really freaks C out when she sees snakes, especially when they cross in front of us on the trail ;) The type we normally see are these small pretty (or gross depending on your preferences ;) black snakes. And we see lots of them!

A few hikes back as we were approaching I saw one close to us before C did and as a reflex, I planted my feet very firmly and pushed her out of the way with a Kung Fu block sort of motion ;) This is the second time that comes to mind where I had a serious innate protective reflex with a friend. Altruistic reflexes are cool, although I'm sure the snake was too busy fleeing to recognize my valor ;) Yeah... just show me a snake, I'll take it on... yeah right... ;)

Anyway, it happened again today. Instead of just pushing her to the side and holding my ground, I said her name in a very firm tone, grabbed her arms from behind with both hands and walked her to the opposite side, as I was rather freaked out myself ;) This time we were hiking down the trail and I saw the biggest fucking snake I've ever seen not in captivity. It was huge! I'd guess about as long as I am tall, not exaggerating, maybe longer, although its hard to tell exactly since it wasn't sprawled out in a straight line ;) The thing that most scared me is that it was a different color, a brownish that looked similar to pictures of rattlers on the signs.

I looked just long enough to find the end of it and determine that there was not a rattle. But regardless I didn't feel like standing around and messing with it ;) Unlike the little black snakes it seemed rather unimpressed by us ;)

I heard a rattler on another hike a while back at a different location: they sound like sprinkler systems turning on!! ;)

I just reviewed the venomous snake bite section of my WFR manual ;) Basically you should just stay calm and chill until help gets there if you're not far from it. They say you can use a "Sawyer Extractor" in my book but I seem to recall them saying in class that its dubious as to whether or not even those things actually do anything, and they recommend against the old wisdom of sucking or cutting the wound. Hydrate, avoid walking, avoid painkillers and alcohol. The also recommend splinting the extremity and keeping it at the same level as the heart, but hopefully by the time we'd get that going help would be there: its nice that my cell phone works on our hikes, go verizon ;) (C's doesn't)

The prevention section is pretty funny:
1. Know if you are traveling in snake country.
2. Don't pick up or corner a snake.
3. Avoid placement of hands and feet in suspect areas.
4. Avoid traveling at night without a light.

I somehow doubt that the people who are likely to corner snakes and or try to pick them up are likely to be reading this sort of stuff ;) Which reminds me of other things learned in WFR. If I recall correctly: most people bitten by snakes are young males, and most of the bites are on the finger ;) (I also seem to recall that most of those were intoxicated as well, but I could be making that one up... do any of my fellow WFR/EMTs remember? ;)