The Pakistani Spectator

As I follow an animal trail that will eventually lead me into the swamp I progressively move from dry, highland habitat with its oak groves, long leaf pines and accompanying gopher tortoise burrows to where the dense palmetto scrub becomes almost impenetrable.

The palmetto scrub provides protective cover for many animals as well as a handy food source for the bear.

Here also is splendid cover for many of the areas other wildlife species as well as more than adequate protection for a denning female black bear due to the fact that a large predator such as another bear would find it most difficult to approach the den site through the almost impenetrable, noisy cover with any amount of stealth.

Most rational humans avoid these large, dense patches of palmetto scrub for a very good reason. They are home to the undisputed king of North America’s venomous snakes, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake.

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself traversing a large patch of palmetto you will soon discover that it is almost impossible to see the ground immediately at your feet.

The large trunks and root systems of the palmetto grow in a profusion of confusion, creeping along the ground, over and under each other, creating diabolically dangerous footing that threatens to trip you every step that you take. As if this were not bad enough what is on the ground is concealed, hidden very effectively by the broad palmate fronds of the palmetto thus rendering each and every step precarious at best.

So now you began to get the picture.

One of the first trips I ever made to Florida many years ago was to an area south of Sarasota called the “Devils hole”. My buddy, Paul and I were capturing diamondback rattlesnakes for the Miami Serpantarium and hunting was good. In three days we caught over one hundred diamondbacks, the largest of which was a tad less than seven feet in length.

Most of the hunting on that trip was done in thick palmetto scrub.

I will never forget the day that while traversing a particularly wicked patch of scrub when suddenly all hell broke loose around us when a group of feral hogs burst out of the thicket making tracks for elsewhere.

We had obviously disturbed them while they were having their mid day siesta.

We could hear the animals crashing through the cover all around us but I never saw a single animal.

Paul later told me that a large boar hog with six inch tusks had burst out of the scrub right at his side. When he first saw the animal he thought it was a bear and he estimated it to weigh between four and five hundred pounds.

With those feral hogs in the area we abandoned that particular terrain not because we were particularly bothered by the thought of those big tusks that could gut a man in a second but we knew those hogs would kill and eat any snake they found and it didn’t matter if the snake was a granddaddy diamond back or a harmless indigo snake.

On that particular hunt we were each wearing snake proof boots which lessens the chance of a bad bite unless the snake is sunning himself in the top of the palmetto then he just might be able to give you a body shot which is not a nice thing to consider.

Now I told you that so you can better understand what it is like traversing a large patch of palmetto scrub.

On the day in question I decided, against my better judgment I might add, to take a shortcut across the patch of scrub palmetto in front of me. It seemed like a good idea at the time, after all, it would save a half mile hike and I was hungry and knew that dinner would be waiting my arrival.

While I was negotiating my way across a particularly dense and wickedly inhospitable area I was suddenly jerked up short by that distinctive and under the circumstances, unwelcome music.

The unpleasant truth of the matter was that from the volume and dispersed sound there were at least two of the reptiles and they were very close, right at my feet.

I stood very still.

In fact I gave new meaning to that old saying, “Frozen in your tracks.”

After a few moments of intense rattling and no more movement on my part the rattling became erratic, ceased, jerkily started again and then stopped altogether.

I could hear the dry rasping sound as one of the snakes crawled over something, probably one of the trunks of the palmetto plants that grew in profusion all around me.

Quietly, slowly so as not to disturb either reptile I began to lift and push the fronds aside so as to better enable me to see the ground at my feet. There, no more than eighteen inches from my right foot was a portion of the heavy body of a large, beautiful diamondback rattler. It was obviously well fed, a prime, healthy specimen.

The only problem was that I had no clue as to the whereabouts of my reptilian friend’s head and if you will remember, there were two of the sweeties, not just one.

It was difficult to tell but from what I could see of the snake’s body, a section perhaps a foot long; I guessed it to be roughly four to four and a half feet long, above average for these times when most folks kill every snake they see.

The snake was not huge but certainly large enough to ruin your day.

I continued to carefully lift the fronds aside until I was able to see the second rattler. It was lying in a loose defensive coil about four feet away. It seemed undisturbed as it lay there facing me; its black tongue lazily tasting the air of its environment. O.K., the next thing to do in the order of importance was to find the business end of the snake at my feet.

Carefully I lifted aside another frond and there was the impressive head, perhaps two inches wide with nice fat cheeks.

A rattlesnake this size is going to possess fangs three quarters of an inch in length which means deep envenomation which most likely won’t kill you but before you’re done, what with all of the suffering you will go through, you just might wish you were dead.

Oh so carefully I allowed the fronds to settle back into place and step by cautious step, I began my retreat leaving the couple in possession of that particular patch of scrub palmetto.

As I moved away one of the rattlers buzzed a brief farewell and then all was quiet except for the beating of my heart.

Life is sort of like that. Situations may arise that present danger to yourself or to your well laid plans. Under those circumstances the best thing might be to retrace your steps and start again from a fresh perspective.

For more articles go to: www.chaz-writersheart.blogspot.com

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