When do rattlesnakes come out/hatch?

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

I'm planning another backpacking trip near Sunflower in about two weeks. (Trail # 91.)

The highs there a week from today are forecast to be in the low 60's. I expect the same, or warmer, in two weeks.

This seems warm enough for rattlesnakes to be out, yes?

When do the babies hatch?

I found a post in this forum from years ago, warning someone about rattlesnakes in the Superstitions in February. That seemed early to me. But I'm ignorant.

I think my hearing is still okay, to hear a rattle of an adult ... but I hear that baby rattlers don't have rattles.

But my reflexes are way slow. I've run over things with the lawnmower even though I saw them a few feet beforehand.

[LosDosSloFolks]

They're starting to wake up. We saw three adults today on our Lone Mountain hike.

[big_load]

They're starting to wake up. We saw three adults today on our Lone Mountain hike.

Did you check their IDs? I got this mental image of rattlesnakes smoking and drinking on the trail

[LosDosSloFolks]

@big_load
No underage hatchlings were served. ;-)

[DixieFlyer]

@LosDosSloFolks
I heard a vicious rattlesnake while hiking today, and jumped back a bit. Thankfully it turned out to be one of Route Scouts nature sounds!

[RowdyandMe]

Usually in the morning.

[big_load]

@DixieFlyer
Route Scout has freaked me out a couple times.

[garyc57]

Route Scout has freaked me out a couple times.

Once was enough for me. After that one time, I turned off my nature sounds!

Joe and I had a conversation about that. He said people actually asked for the rattlesnake sound! Weird. Thankfully, I can turn them off!

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

I just returned from hiking/backpacking from Mormon Grove to McCarthy Canyon and back, and then south on the Little Saddle Mountain trail for an overnight.

I met about ten Thru-hikers. (All nobo.)

Most wearing shorts. (One guy backpacking in flip flops!)

Some had seen one or two rattlesnakes way further south.

So apparently, no one worries much about being bitten by a rattlesnake.

In my defense, when I used to fly, I did everything I could to avoid a midair collision.

The fact is that, once at altitude, the odds of a midair are so low that a pilot can never look out the window and almost never get hit.

(And, in fact, many pilots never look out the window anymore in this day & age of electronic maps.)

But it takes only one mid-air to ruin your day.

Hence my "heightened awareness."

[xsproutx]

Well smashing into another plane means most likely death (and, well, this basically never happens as well) and getting bit by a rattler means... lower odds of dying than by lightening. I get scratched by catclaw every trip, which kind of sucks, but I'm pretty sure walking around in chainmail would be worse.

I suppose we could all live our lives in fear of every slightly potential thing that happens and prepare for it but that seems like it'd suck the fun out of a lot of things/bring a lot of unnecessary inconvenience. Because, you're right, only takes one thing to ruin your day. Might as well stop hiking because you could fall down and break something/fall off a cliff.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@xsproutx
It is true that I'm gonna feel pretty stupid after I fall and break something while backpacking. (I've been watching videos of some Old Guy (older than me) hiking the AZT. He says he fell about four times last month backpacking in the snow.)

Parachuting was safer than backpacking.

[SuperstitionGuy]

@TooOld2HikeQ
"Parachuting was safer than backpacking."??????????????
I would rather fall from six feet than a thousand feet because when that chute fails it is all over!

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@SuperstitionGuy
I'm getting off topic. But there are two chutes. And after you've seen how the chutes are packed, they rarely fail to deploy.

And with parachuting, you know the situation that you're putting yourself into. Whereas a surprise rattlesnake bite is unknown (by definition).

[SuperstitionGuy]

@TooOld2HikeQ

I was stationed (1959-1962) in the Air Force at Lincoln AFB in Nebraska. Went out one Saturday to watch, observe and participate in parachute jumping. The first plane load of jumpers (4) persons as it was a small plane dropped it's load. One of the jumpers pulled the wrong D-ring and then jettisoned the Reserve Chute. He then pulled the right D-ring and that chute began to get tangled in the now jettisoned Reserve chute. He hit the ground (a plowed field) hard in a cloud of dust and broke his leg.

The plane then returned for it's second drop and a slightly overweight lady came down with a Mae West condition with her chute. Result was a broken ankle.

The plane then returned for it's third drop of the day and the wind had increased and one of the parachutists was unable to release his/her harness and was dragged through a 80 acre picked corn field and was only stopped by the chute becoming entangled in a barbed wire fence. I don't know the condition of the person that was dragged through the field but by then they had a ambulance on site for the first planeload of jumpers that had the broken keg, The medics picked up the jumper who was dragged into the ambulance and rushed him/her to the hospital instead.

Needless to say I declined to participate that day and lived to tell about how safe it is to parachute!

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@SuperstitionGuy
Except for the Mae West, the rest where "operator error." Which is avoidable. (And even the Mae West might have been parachute packer operator error.)

And, like backpacking gear, the state of the art in parachuting has increased substantially. I transitioned from round to rectangular chutes. Much slower landing, with a LOT more control.

If you were to watch parachuting at a school like Eloy, you can watch all day without seeing any incidents.

Having made a statement about "operator error," watch as I break a leg during my next backpacking trip.

[xsproutx]

you can watch all day without seeing any incidents

Ah yes, a single day without incidents, the sign of success.

I served for 10 years much more recently than my esteemed @SuperstitionGuy and still saw all sorts of dude poo mess. You hit the point: it's almost always operator error. Same as snakes.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

A live webcam of a rattlesnake den.

https://www.popsci.com/science/rattlesnakes-livestream/

[chumley]

@TooOld2Hike_EP Certainly there must be a documented uptick of dead hikers nearby?

[Jim]

“Third- through fifth-graders will investigate ... the snakes with ...activities.... The team will measure.... children’s perceptions of snakes ...”

I hope they blind fold them and release the kids into the den to test their perceptive abilities.

[Alston_Neal]

@Jim_H
I have to admit my first mental image was of rattlesnakes with cute little blindfolds on.

[Nighthiker]

Usually come in thru a pet door between 2 am and 3 am. Retrieved a lot during that hour when I was a firefighter.