This is my first post here. A guest on the new Big Bend Chat Page(BBNP) directed me to some coachwhip accounts here for the purpose of maintaining my credibility. I guess the accounts here are in the archeve. Anyway, this happen to me in early April, 2005 in Big Bend NP. This was a large PEPTO-BISMOL pink coachwhip in action.
This is want happened and there's no embellishment in this account. This was the most bizzare thing that's ever happened to me with respect to snakes. It wasn't bizzare that I was once tagged by a Timber Rattlesnake(a capture for photo incident). This incident was bizzare because of the timing and decision made by a Coachwhip. I wanted a good photo of a Coachwhip last Spring. And, of course, the best opportunity for this is to spot one on a road. Well, one late afternoon, I took a turn onto the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive from 118. And, less than a mile down the road I spotted a Coachwhip on some concrete. The snake was on the west side of the road. The concrete was there the handle rain runoff. The snake was situated for a west to east crossing. So I drove past the snake and pulled the car over. When I opened the car door, it became apparent that the snake was going the cross the road. It was just inching to the east. So, I thought my best chance for my shot would be to run over to the shoulder of the road on the east side, directly across from the snake. And, when I got in position, the snake was about 3 feet into the road on the west side. At this point, the Coachwhip reared its head to assess the situation. It was looking directly at me from a distance of roughly 15 feet. This is when it made its decision. I guessed it was going to go to my right or left or retreat back to the west. And this is what made this incident so bizzare. This snake, AT THAT DISTANCE, made the following decision: Incredibily, it decided to come at me full blast and launch an massive strike. It managed to tag my left hand, the hand holding my camera. I was standing upright at the time with my camera at eye level. I'm 5 foot 6. This was a large Coachwhip. The snake then dropped down and made its way into a huge complex of prickly pear directly behind me. I was stunned. I really couldn't believe that that snake actually did what it did. I couldn't believe that the snake actually got that far off the ground to tag me that high. But it did. I got so caught up in this snake's behavior that I didn't get a photo. What a photo that would have been. It all happened very fast. I just stood there in disbelief. The bite was inconsequential. I had some bleeding at the base of my thumb area and tooth marks. I'm thinking that the reason the snake charged from that distance was because the complex of prickly pear directly behind me was its home. I told the account to some park staff and showed them the bite. I'm happy I found some similar coachwhip accounts here. sprem
