I almost died today, part 2....

[Superfly]

So, there I was, walking through a Virginia swamp on the way to my treestand. All I had on was a pair of GI jungle boots and my hunting clothes. I see a "dry patch" of land in the sea of 3 inch deep water and make for it so I can take my bearings, etc.

Put my foot down on the clump of grass, and notice the bulk of it is composed of a rattlesnake, who, by the look of things, was none too pleased with my size 12's being on his piece of dry real estate (it rained pretty good over the past few days here).

So, my choices were:

1) Share this piece of land with the current resident and prepare to receive his/her loving welcoming kisses (with fangs).
2) Shit my pants (figuratively speaking), which I did (figuratively speaking)

Well, I chose #2, watched the slithery creature slither into the swamp, then turned, took a step and buried my face into a nice spider web, complete with incredibly mean looking spider.

All that effort to find the perfect hunting spot and not a damned thing. Must have been all the shrieking and yelling that moved the deer out of my general vicinity.

Note to self, next time follow the trail in...(I discovered a dry trail on the way out of the woods)

[Padraig18]

1. Ummm

Are you sure you want to eat something that has rattlesnakes for neighbors? :P

[Superfly]

2. What do you mean, spiders?

Seeing as how I never even saw anything I was hunting....

No, I will not eat spiders, unless they deserved it.

[smiley_glad_hands]

3. Sounds Like Fun

As a soil scientist that works in the central Va area, my biggest concern everytime I walk thru the woods is snakes, specifically copperheads. Get shivers just thinking about coming across one, don't mind the black ones, but if I ever see one with some color, I am going to freak out. I come face to face with spiders all the time, usually by walking straight through their webs (usually never a path where I go), probably made alot of spider enemies too--already been bit once by a brown recluse and came within inches of several black widows. See plenty of deer and turkey too, but I don't hunt--wouldn't mind hunting turkey though--think I could be good at it as much as I see them.

[Superfly]

4. Let me ask you a question

The spider whose web I blundered into was about 5 cm across and very brightly colored. It had spun its web across a gap of about 1.5 meters. It had a very large, very colorful abdomen and a spiral web. Any ideas on what it was?

[Bossy Monkey]

9. Orb weaver of some kind, most likely

Here's a bunch:
http://troyb.com/photo/gallery/section29.htm

[Padraig18]

5. I meant the deer

Tough neighborhood, sounds like. *grin* :P

[geniph]

6. I tripped over one once

It startled us both so much that a) he didn't have time to rattle, or thankfully, strike, and b) I broke the land speed record for humans making tracks out of there. Where there's one, there's often another, so I wasted no time getting the hell away.

I'm not snake-phobic, but getting poisoned is not my idea of improving a hiking trip.

[smiley_glad_hands]

7. Spider

If it was brightly colored with a white and/or yellow abdomen, then its not poisonous to humans. Don't know the exact name though. Black widows are black with a red hourglass shape. Brown recluses are brown. When I walk through the woods I usually use a stick or machete to wave in front of me to knock down any webs that I can't see. Late fall and winter the spiders go into hibernation and they are not a problem anymore. Good Luck.

[smiley_glad_hands]

8. Spider

Here's a link with a picture of a brown recluse.

http://spiders.ucr.edu/recluseid.html