DNF

We had to take the youngest BadAnimal to the RediClinic today (he's had a sore throat for a couple of days (so have I, I think it is just allergies) and we wanted to make sure that he didn't have strep throat) and it was going to be a long wait and there were no seats available for me so I decided to take a walk.

I checked my Blackberry and saw there was a close cache, Among The Trees, nearby. As I got to ground zero, I stepped on a 3' or 4' stick that disturbed a water moccasin on the other end. I could have just as easily stepped right on this snake or very near to it. I took a quick pic with my Blackberry (zoomed in) and let it be in peace.

Finding a cache isn't worth getting bitten by a very poisonous snake. This did scare me and I was VERY VERY thankful that my kids were not with me. Geocaching, I'm finding out quickly, is not the safest of hobbies (snakes, spiders, thorns, bad people, etc.). I was just wearing tennis shoes and shorts, I didn't expect to go geocaching.

I'm going to insist that we all wear long pants and perhaps have walking sticks too if/when the next time we go.

If you attempt this cache, please be careful.

And always be aware of your surroundings wherever you go!

This is my second water moccasin that I have seen while geocaching. I don't think I have ever seen one in my entire life out in the wild and now I have found two within a month or so. Argh.


Is that really a water moccasin? From this site -

"If the water is close, then they will often dive for it, even if the threat is between them and escape. I have had them rush around me and over my feet to get to the water. This may be a source of some of the Water Moccasin's rumored (but non-existent) aggressiveness. Most other aquatic snakes will usually flee away from the threat even if it drives them away from the water.

However, if a Water Moccasin is caught out in the open, it will coil and display by opening its mouth wide exposing the white lining of its mouth (hence its second name cottonmouth). I believe that this behavior serves two purposes, as a threat and as a practical defense of its head. It would certainly be difficult to grab this animal by the head without being bitten.

Be advised, though the Water Moccasin is not aggressive, it will readily bite and bite from a Water Moccasin can be very serious. Their venom is very destructive to the tissue around the bite and bite victims often get nasty bacteriological infections like gangrene."