Ever been face to face with a Rattle Snake?
Have you ever found yourself next to a Rattle Snake? Last year while hiking in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, I had the opportunity to find myself in that exact situation. Torrey Pines Park is the home of our nation’s rarest pine tree – Pinus torreyana. Once this tree covered a larger area, but the fragile environment it requires now only exists here and on Santa Rosa Island off the coast near Santa Barbara. As my wife and I walked down a trail leading to the ocean, which was completely obscured by an incoming fog bank off the coast, we suddenly heard a very loud buzz. This was a sound I had never heard in my life, and immediately started my heart racing. I jumped backwards and sprinted back up the trail. Turning back, I pulled out my camera and took a few shots before he slithered off into the brush. He was easily over six feet long and as wide as the business end of a baseball bat.