Snakes on a Hike

Dedicated to my brave beau.

Being fortunate enough to live in an area where we can frequently be one with nature, we often come across families of deer, gliding hawks, millions of little lizards, and the scat of wildcats during our hikes.

Just recently, when we were casually hiking along in the warm sun, we walked right up on a big ol’ rattler. NO kidding, my beau practically stepped right on the snake before he stepped back to avoid the rattling tale and hissing noise coming right from the center of the path. Apparently the rattlesnake was casually warming himself in the sun too. My heart rate monitor recorded my heart going from 96 to high 126 bmp in a matter of seconds…not that I needed the monitor to tell me my heart was thumping. I could hear it!

My beau stood between the snake and I as it slowly slithered and rattled its way off to the side and under the brush. The rest of the hike we were both a bit more on edge when we heard the wind running through the grass, or a lizard scrambling by.

Perhaps the best indication (and my favorite) of how being startled by a rattlesnake effected our mindset, was how my beau continued to daydream about other encounters with dangerous animals. About half-way through our hike, he turned around to me and admitted, “I just had this daydream where a mountain lion came up on us from the woods, growling and pacing. You got scared and started to run away (which you are not supposed to do) and the lion chased after you. I ran up behind him and jumped on him to hold him back. I tried to pin him while he thrashed his claws around. When I got on top of him he kept scratching at me with his paws until he gradually scratched his way through my chest with his big paws. And that was it.”

I hope we never see a mountain lion. Ever.