| Death Val1ey Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) | WES SHELBERG SAN DIEGO |
Remember the old western movies where the cowboy's horse rears up when confronted by a rattler on the trail? A real-life, modern version of this scenario happened in April 1970 in Death Valley as I rode my trusty steed, a Yamaha-250 trail bike ( a motorcycle), eastward down the Trail Canyon Road. Somewhere around the 2400-2800 ft. elevation (1990 memory), the road makes a sharp, blind bend/jog around a large rock. Rounding the bend at a "fast" speed, I encountered a 3+ foot, fat, pinkish western diamondback about 10-ft in front of me, stretched straight at a right angle to my path so that it looked as if I would cut him in half. Never did a snake move so fast (Hyperbole ? Forget the conventional wisdom that rattlesnakes move sluggishly when confronted!). He made a perfect V-shape of his body with the open end of the V directed to my left, and I sped past missing the V's point by only a few inches and without having enough time or presence of mind to raise a leg. But I spilled the bike, projecting unhurt over the handle-bars. The bike lay on its side with the handle-bar's fuel lever wedged in the sand so that the motor continued to run with the rear wheel spinning. While I quickly recovered my poise, the rattler rapidly moved beneath the bike, coiled and continuously rattled while the rear wheel spun next to him. I gingerly approached the handle-bars and lifted the front of the bike just enough to unjam the fuel lever, thus stopping the motor and wheel. I waited a full half-hour, tossing pebbles and cussing, but the rattler refused to move out. He then condescended slowly to move away as I continued to toss small pebbles to rattle him. That was one angry snake, and I guess I can hardly blame him. I sure would hate to be the next DPSer he encounters assuming he's still alive and not run over after 20 years. I straightened my handle-bars and went on my way.
I had accessed the Trail Canyon Road via a road leading steeply down from the Aguereberry Point area. Is this connection no longer possible/allowed? AAA's Guide to Death Valley map no longer shows it.
