[Philmont]: Consider yourself fortunate

A quick biology lesson.
 
You are going to find rattlesnakes near their food source.
 
Rattlesnakes eat rodents, read that mice and rats.
 
Rodents "love" (like that do you Signe?) talus and rocky areas of similar structure.
 
Philmont has a few of these areas. Actually a lot of them.
 
However the one locale where the trail goes right through the middle of the best rock field and thereby the best rodent habitat is the one place where virtually EVERYONE hikes through. TheTooth of Time trail.
 
Probably more rattlesnakes are seen on that trail than all the other trails put together.
 
Soooooooooooo...............a word to the wise.
 
Rodents are most active at night.
 
Feeding rattlesnakes are most active at night for obvious reasons.
 
If you choose to "get an early start" on the TOT trail into CHQ so you can get to town and get a pizza, just remember that the PhilStaff and PhilAdmin admonished you to NOT HIKE AT NIGHT. There are a few exceptions to that hard and fast rule, but the TOT trail isn't one of them for good reason.
 
If you choose to do it anyway and one of the youth hiking at night gets bitten by a rattlesnake looking for a meal, you as an advisor charged with "safety issues" are grosly negligent.
 
Besides that you get to live with it on your concience for the rest of your life.
 
Besides that, the one bitten has an ordeal to go through that is like none other on earth. And they might not make it.
 
Proposing "early starts" has not yet been discussed on this list this year, but I'm telling you here and now that only a fool would do that.
 
Now, let me say something about snakes, all snakes. This comes from a biologist, me.
 
All snakes are good snakes, including rattlesnakes. You may not appreciate that or you may be scared to death of them, but fact is fact.
 
If it weren't for rattlesnakes, Philmont would probably be closed down because of the Hanta Virus. It hit that area pretty hard a few years ago and Philmont has an extensive program to eliminate deer mouse habitat near where people congregate.
 
Rattlesnakes keep the rodent population in check and thuse the Hanta Virus problem. They are very efficient ratcatchers.
 
Just stay out of their way when they are doing their thing.
 
Sleep in your tent at night. Hike the trails in the daytime.
 
That way you stand a much better chance seeing the rattlesnake before he picks you up via "radar". Actually it will be with infared sensors they use, but still, you can't seen him, but he can "see" you.
 
If you do get the chance to see a rattlesnake during the daytime, then you areare fortunate. Relish the moment. It does make a good war story and if properly told, it gets better and better each time.
 
We got to see a beautiful Prairie Rattler last year on the TOT when a male crew member walked up trail to "salt a rock".
 
I caught the thing and let everyone get an up close and personal look at the worlds deadliest rat chatcher. HIs portraite is in all the crew's photo albums.
 
Then I turned it loose and it did it's thing and we did ours.
 
That rattlesnake is still there on the TOT trail along with many others for you to see.
 
Consider yourself fortunate if you get that chance.
 
John LeBlanc
Philmont treks in 1959 and 2002
My last adventure was yesterday,
Today isn't over yet

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Received on Sun Jun 1 23:10:43 2003