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RAPPAHANNOCK NEWS (Washington, Virginia) 12 May 05 Ready to strike (Anita L. Sherman)
Loring Anderson Jr. is a familiar face in Rappahannock County. He usually appears with a friendly smile and a ready handshake. But recently, Anderson had something to show folks -- a mounted trophy of a former timber rattlesnake measuring nearly 6 ft. long.
Anderson was happy to share the story of his encounter with the reptile that he had last summer.
"I'd been up in the mountains bulldozing," began Anderson, "when I got off to take a rest I found myself between the dozer and this snake. He was coiled up with his rattler shaking. He was ready to strike. I knew that it was going to be him or me."
Anderson explained that most of the time snakes will head in the other direction when a bulldozer is around.
"The vibrations in the ground scare them away."
But on this particular hot sunny afternoon, it was different.
"What saved me was remembering what my grandfather had told me about killing snakes," recalled Anderson. "If you hit them just below the head, about 6-8 inches, it will temporarily stun them long enough for you to take further action."
Anderson just happened to have access to a stick -- one that he kept on the dozer to help keep the brake pedal locked.
"I hit him, he was knocked out for a few seconds and then I beat him to death," said Anderson who admitted that he was no snake killer but had no other choice at the time.
"I know that their bite isn't fatal but it can make you pretty sick and I'm an old man, nearly 70," said Anderson. "I would have been hard pressed to get down that mountain alone if I had been bitten."
Anderson's mounted timber snake is a beauty with geometric patterns adoring its back. The snake was undoubtedly old with a row of thirteen perfectly shaped rattlers.
"I believe that each rattler represents three years of a snake's life," grinned Anderson, "so this snake was close to 40-years old."
Anderson spends a lot of time working in the hills and mountains of Rappahannock County. He has seen a lot of snakes in his time.
"Mostly, they will be out sunning themselves on the rock walls. I always just leave them alone," said Anderson whose father had a penchant for snakes.
"My father loved snakes and when I was a little boy we'd hunt them but not to kill. There was a place in Washington, D.C. that would pay for their venom to use to make anti-venom serum."
While Anderson's encounter was dramatic and turned out well for him and untimely for the timber rattler, the chances of having a face-to-face showdown with a rattler are probably slim.
Karen Beck-Herzog, managing assistant for the Shenandoah National Park, couldn't recall any human/snake encounters on her watch.
"We have a knowledgeable ranger that works here who studies snakes and is only aware of a couple of snakebite victims over the course of many years -- and those people were allergic to them."
Certainly timber rattlesnakes and cooperheads are part of the natural fabric that make up Rappahannock County, and while many have seen them, few can claim, like Anderson, to have faced one who was ready to strike.
Ready to strike

what a fool...some people jsut don't have any respect for mother nature...there was nothing i could do...him or me..sheesh...but what do you expect..he didnt know any better..people are raised to fear snakes...its unfortunate
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Kevin
Southern California Organization for Rattlesnake Research and Education SCORRE05@hotmail.com