sureshot375
AH elite
I’ve had a number of sketchy encounters with wildlife over the years. I’ve been spit on by a cobra, looked a mamba in the eyes at at face level. I’ve shared a tree with a leopard. I’ve been charged by elephant. I shot a buffalo between the eyes in a full on charge in the long grass when I was in middle school.
I’ve never been bothered by any of it, but I made a mistake last night and it’s eating me up.
The weather was so nice I decided we had to go out for a ranger ride and put out some corn for the deer.
Me, my wife and my two little boys age 1 and age 2.5 headed out.
We got to our first stop and I grabbed a bucket from the back while everyone else stayed in the ranger. I checked the area for snakes before letting my 2.5 year old get out. I always look for snakes.
Corn attracts deer. It also attracts, squirrels, rabbits, and mice which in turn attracts things that eat squirrels, rabbits, and mice.
I picked up my son and sat him down by the first bucket of corn to start throwing it out. He has a big time with this. It Is not uncommon for him to walk around with fists full of corn to dramatically throw the kernels in a way that only a 2 year old could deliver. I went back to the ranger for the second bucket of corn.
I sat the second bucket of corn down still looking hard for danger, and I found it. There was a sizable timber rattler coiled up less than 5 feet from where I had left my little boy to play. It was sucked down tight to the groud having made a bit of an indention in the bare dirt. The sparse grass and natural camouflage was enough evade my first efforts at detection.
The trail camera caught the event as it happened. I should have taken the time to photograph the snake in its natural state before my intervention, but my visceral reaction got the better of me.
You can see from the photos where my son was in relation to where the snake was. The whole thing just makes me sick.
I’m kicking myself hard for not seeing it the first go around.
I’ve never been bothered by any of it, but I made a mistake last night and it’s eating me up.
The weather was so nice I decided we had to go out for a ranger ride and put out some corn for the deer.
Me, my wife and my two little boys age 1 and age 2.5 headed out.
We got to our first stop and I grabbed a bucket from the back while everyone else stayed in the ranger. I checked the area for snakes before letting my 2.5 year old get out. I always look for snakes.
Corn attracts deer. It also attracts, squirrels, rabbits, and mice which in turn attracts things that eat squirrels, rabbits, and mice.
I picked up my son and sat him down by the first bucket of corn to start throwing it out. He has a big time with this. It Is not uncommon for him to walk around with fists full of corn to dramatically throw the kernels in a way that only a 2 year old could deliver. I went back to the ranger for the second bucket of corn.
I sat the second bucket of corn down still looking hard for danger, and I found it. There was a sizable timber rattler coiled up less than 5 feet from where I had left my little boy to play. It was sucked down tight to the groud having made a bit of an indention in the bare dirt. The sparse grass and natural camouflage was enough evade my first efforts at detection.
The trail camera caught the event as it happened. I should have taken the time to photograph the snake in its natural state before my intervention, but my visceral reaction got the better of me.
You can see from the photos where my son was in relation to where the snake was. The whole thing just makes me sick.
I’m kicking myself hard for not seeing it the first go around.
