staehpj1

Here in the south they call them cane brake rattlers. When I lived in the mid atlantic region I remember an incident that involved three timber rattlers. One the light tan color, one the dark almost black color, and one the light tan with the back 1/3 or so the almost black color. My young brother in law and I were backpacking in the Ramseys Draft Wilderness when he heard the buzz of a rattlesnake. He was stepping toward it trying to find out what was making the sound. I told him stop and take a couple steps back because there was a rattlesnake. He started backing up right toward another rattlesnake! I spotted it just in time and got him to stop and take a couple steps forward and stay put long enough to survey the area. Sure enough there was a third rattlesnake right where he would have gone next. We watched them a while and one went over the the other and they were both in one coil with two heads and two rattles sticking up.

We hiked a long way before I could convince him to pitch camp that day and we both thought about snakes any time we stepped over a log or anywhere we couldn't see for the rest of the trip.