Ingrid, I am beyond relieved that your encounter with the rattler was a peaceful one! It must have been a terrifying shock!! I've come upon rattlesnakes from a safer distance and found them formidable enough from beyond the strike zone.

In parts of TX and OK, copperheads are a real hazard for people, pets and livestock, too. I have proper respect for all four of N. America's poisonous snakes. I hadn't heard about Mohave rattlers cross breeding. A helpful alert!

Maybe you could get one of those extra long handled extension rakes or some very long poles and poke and shuffle (from a distance) the areas you are planning to garden? A friend's mother who lives in southern OK uses that prevention method. So far, so good. A copperhead struck once, but it went for the rake. Most snakes probably make an exit when they sense the shuffling.

I've also heard that it's a good idea to make some singing and clapping noises on trails in bear country to prevent a surprise encounter. Can't hurt, right?

Once again, I am so glad nothing worse happened today. You are a such courageous and determined gardener! Please continue to take care, and thank you for passing along information which may help another stay safe. Carol

Oh my goodness, it makes me feel faint just to think about it... I suppose you are allowed to turn on your heels and run?... You must have been shocked, so glad you are alright and hopefully not too disturbed by the experience...

Wow you must have been terrified. I had a similar experience last September when our dog had a huge Timber rattlesnake cornered on our property. The snake was coiled up ready to strike and she was right in its face barking at it. I had to make a quick decision and still question if I was crazy or not lol. Here's the link to my snake story I posted on the FL forum lol http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4155760/omg-snake-scare?n=12

Sultry, eeeeek!!!! I probably would have done the same as you. Rescued my dog! Fortunately, although timber rattlers are large and deliver a punch of toxic venom, they are more benign than many types and tend to behave like the one you encountered. Lots of rattling and warning signals and prefer to make an exit when possible. What an experience nonetheless! Carol

Just wanted to add that we allowed the snake to go on its way. In the larger scheme of things humans are probably less important (and much more harmful) than almost any other creature on earth, although I can understand a different view if you have small children. Since this one was kind enough to leave me alone I could only return the favor. Snakes are great travelers, especially rattlers, and you may never see the same one twice on your property. In my younger days, when I was married to a geologist, we sometimes caught different species of rattlers and kept them in very safe cages as "pets", which is of course illegal. We had a Mohave rattlesnake and were told by the herpetologist at the L.A. Zoo that it was the most venomous of all rattlers, and fortunately he was happy to take if off our hands. We eventually set them all free, which can be a problem for them because they are let loose in an unknown area where the already resident rattlers will not welcome them with open arms. Almost everything we do with wildlife in our ignorance is detrimental to them. I used to release indoor spiders to the outside and now know that they are indoors for a reason; that is their habitat. They cannot survive outside. Who knew?

Just two days ago, myself and my 3 yo twin granddaughters were walking the garden path and Emma, who was walking behind myself and her sister a couple of feet says, "Look Nana, worm" and had picked up a copperhead adult snake. I did not panic but calmly told her to put it down. It was just at the beginning of the grass path in which myself and her sister walked right by it, only inches away. It blended right in with the mulch and I did not see it. Emma put the snake down and I gathered the girls, slowly, away from it. My tummy just turns when I think what could of happened it the copperhead bit Emma, but it didn't for some odd reason and very thankful for that. The copperhead continued on its way as I was not going to mess with it and my husband was not home to deal with it. We checked the garden bed(s) it slithered in to and I have since, raised up some of the plants to see better if it is still around or any others....hopefully not.

Oh my goodness, I can just imagine your terror, Patty. You were remarkably calm and did the only thing you could have done, and fortunately disaster was averted. I'm sure there was a talk with Emma and her twin afterwards about how you never pick up any kind of animal, but at that age of course anything and everything is fascinating. I'm so happy that nothing happened to your precious grandchild. Was the temperature by any chance on the cool side? If so, then they're not very active. I once was picking off dead leaves from a little bush that must have been all of eight inches tall and not much more than a foot across only to discover a small rattler right in the middle of it. Fortunately it was a very cool day and the snake was not very alert. Last night the temperature was around 74 degrees so "my" snake should have been fully alert. I suppose animals do whatever they want, not always according to the book.

Oh my! How scary for both of you, Ingrid and Patty! I am so thankful no one was hurt. Ingrid I know there are lots of rattlesnakes in your area. We somehow had a baby one inside the house when house sitting for my inlaws on your street. Be careful, the season is just beginning, and with the extra rain, comes extra rodents, and extra rodents, will mean extra food for the snakes. That will mean extra snakes eventually, too. I had no idea the venom had become more toxic. I am SO glad you came away with "just" a good scare.

Patty, that is truly terrifying. I'm glad you were able to remain so calm. I'm not so sure I could have! I'm sure you saved her from being bitten. I find it remarkable that the snake didn't bite anyway. Was it perhaps still early morning and cool out? I'm so glad Emma is alright! I'm assuming someone had a talk with the girls about snakes. I'll bet that scene replayed itself over and over in your head.

Again, I am just so relieved these encounters turned out ok. Lisa

Ingrid, we were posting at the same time. You read my mind, or I read yours! :) Lisa

Are there any non-poisonous snakes you could move into your properties, that would keep the other kind away?

Where I live black snakes (yuck) are beloved (yes, this IS weird) because where we have blacksnakes, we don't have rattles or cottonboys (local term for cottonmouths). I don't like snakes. Never have. Never will. Stepped on a huge black snake as a thirteen year old and screamed so loud a neighbor a block away called my mother (who was a bit deaf) and told her that I had probably stepped on a snake and needed to be checked on.)

I know folks who live off the grid who collect black snakes to move onto their mountainside. Where, by odds, they should have been bitten by now.

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"I've also heard that it's a good idea to make some singing and clapping noises on trails in bear country to prevent a surprise encounter. Can't hurt, right?"

Have you ever seen the Lindsay Lohen version of "The Parent Trap"?

As a matter of fact, ann, the California kingsnake does prey on rattlesnakes, though they don't seem to drive rattlers out (often found in the same area -- I'm thinking, in particular, of a preserve off Edgewood Road where I recently worked, near San Carlos, on the SF peninsula, which was full of rattlers and, also, king snakes. The herps biologists at the restoration site particularly disliked moving the king snakes because they let loose a noxious fluid when handled -- one apologized for that smell on his camera as he showed me a photo of a cute baby rattler they also had to move one morning from the same staging area...).

I spent part of my childhood years on a rattlesnake-ridden ranch, Ingrid, and your experience reminds me of the time, as a child, I reached for a dog's water dish to fill it, and my hand came within a few inches of a coiled-up rattler. I will never forget that. We always took sticks with us when working in the gardens there, to lift and probe plant foliage before reaching in, and a number of cats, dogs, and cows were bit over the years.

How frightening, Ingrid and all with their snake encounters. So glad you are alright. I need my inspiration, and I'm sure many others do too.

Rattlesnakes, unfortunately, are a fact of life in the arid West. I had a close reptile encounter in the local mountains years ago while hiking, alone, wearing sandals (I was young and stupid).. never hiked alone after that, and never in open shoes, either. We have a weekend home in the southern Sierra where green Mohave rattlers are endemic, and that's the second best reason (after fire prevention) for frequent brush clearance.

Our vet advertises a vaccine that will supposedly protect dogs from rattlesnake bites. OT, but anybody have experience with this medication? Thanks.

Ingrid, I worry about this encounter on a daily basis and I can certainly relate. I am SO glad this had a "happy" ending. Not so for my neighbors' dog last year. I am not a snake lover and the locals here advise that you keep a wide, clear area around your house (similar to a wild fire break) to discourage them from getting too close. So far, we have had 1rattler and 1 bull snake on our property since we moved here 2 years ago. I'm hoping that's it! My husband has the fence line graded down every spring.

Sylvia, I have a close friend who had her 2 year old golden/border collie mix , Alice, vaccinated. She almost didn't survive the vaccine and has a "hole" at the injection site that is still under treatment a year later. The vaccine can be seriously dangerous to some dogs.

Ingrid, do you have any objection to using snake repellant around your property? I think most hardware chains sell it.

Thank you all for your kind comments and good wishes. I know I'm far from the only one who has had "interesting" encounters. I've actually had quite a few, but there again I'm not alone in that. Sylvia, I had read about vaccines for dogs and cats but the comments were not exactly favorable. Years ago I had a dog who was bitten in the face by a rattler. His face was very swollen on one side and he lay in the back yard for a week, with a hole forming where he had been bitten, and then he recovered and the hole closed over. yuccarose, I'm sorry that your neighbor's dog was not as fortunate. mcnastarana, snake repellent might not be a bad idea in places where we walk most often and in the garden around the house, and I'll look into that. The rest of the property is too large and too hilly for that to be feasible. Sylvia, please do be careful where you have the Mohave rattlers. Fortunately rattlers want to be left alone. I don't think I could ever live in Africa where black mambas are so aggressive that they will chase you, and their venom can be deadly within 15 minutes. Lisa, thank you for your kind thoughts. I had to chuckle when I read your post, which sounded so much like mine. A baby rattler in the house is no joke since their venom is just as potent as that of adults. stillann, I saw the original Parent Trap movie and do recall the scene about the fiance trying to scare away bears. It's hilarious.

Thank goodness Italy is less snaky than much of the U.S.: though we're supposed to have vipers locally I've never seen one. I posted a while back that our snakes were back. We had snakes that lived under the terrace, but which got exterminated by one of the local cats or our dog; after a year or so, though, we saw snakes once again occupying the same quarters. I got a good look at one the other day when it didn't flee when I passed. A little research on the Internet told me that what we have is almost certainly the green or western whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus. They get big, up to six feet or so (we once found a snakeskin that was 5'3"), are good for environmental balance--they prey on other snakes, including vipers, as well as on rats and mice, along with a host of more desirable animals--and aren't dangerous as long as you don't try to grab them. Perish the thought. We encounter them often enough, sunning under the roses, on the tractor road, or, yesterday, on the steps going down to the compost heap, and a couple of times have seen them mating. They do always give me a start, but I'm glad they're there.

Patty, had I had your experience I would have turned inside out. How terrifying. I'm glad you had a happy ending, due to your admirable presence of mind.

I found a baby rattler on the window seat in my dining room last year. We ended up calling the county animal control to catch it. They were very cautious! Said they are the most deadly.

OMG, Patty! What a terrifying moment!! You are amazing. I think I would have thrown up!

Lisa, yikes! I'm relieved you didn't sit down with a good book.

Ann, Ha! Ha! I haven't seen the film, but can imagine. Clap, clap! Shoo bears shoo. If the bear is a polar bear, clapping and shouting is akin to ringing a dinner bell.

It's fortunate that snakes, like spiders, prefer to save their venom for food material when possible. I also appreciate their rattled warnings and their urge to avoid human contact. They're lovely creatures in their way, valuable members of the planet with a much better ecological track record than people, but I truly do not wish to find a pit viper in my house or under my rose bush, thank you very much! Carol

lisa, a very wise decision. They're adorable, Brussels Griffons perhaps? Before we lost both of them, our Yorkie was an inside dog only (she refused to be walked) and our rat terrier got three or four walks a day but was otherwise also inside. My husband did see a Southern Pacific rattler at the side of the road when he was walking Peppie, and just made a very wide circle around it. On another property we saw quite a few rattlers, including in the garage, and ended up catching them with a broom and a dust pan, put them in a paper grocery sack and relocated them to a wilderness area up the road. Animal Control would probably not advise this method, and neither would I for anyone else, but it was just a matter of being extremely watchful every single second. At heart they're just pussycats who want to be left alone, unlike some much more aggressive snakes that I would never go near.