First Rattler of the Summer!

I rustled up the girls this morning for a quick run in the hills behind our house. It's been so stinking hot that if I dont' have my run done by 8, its already too hot. Well, we got started at 8, and were home again by 9.....and it was pretty miserably hot already.  We were already in the 80's, with the forecasted high for today at 109. The girls were feeling the heat, one of them lost her shirt somewhere along the way, but more importantly......we saw our first rattler of the summer!!!

 First, we saw some deer.

 Next, we climbed for a while and got hot. I'm not mad, for the record, just no makeup and hot.

 There's a few more trail running deer.

 The girls happy to find some downhill.

 We had time to go 35 minutes out, and 25 back....and they were more than ready to turn around. Can you tell how hot they are?

 Emma knows whoever is in the lead is on snake duty, but I make it a habit to yell it out to her every now and then, and when she got a bit far ahead, I made sure to yell it a few times.

 At the bottom of this hill, you turn right, immediately hit a small bridge, and start on a narrow single track that is overgrown with grass, it always has me on high alert for snakes, but I've never seen one there.....

 Until today!  Emma made the turn and you immediately cross over the drainage ditch on this little bridge, which had a rattler stretched out on it. We had already went over this bridge once.  Emma yelled up the hill that there was a snake. She said she "thought it was a rattler, but maybe not, but it does have rattles". She said she had a foot on the bridge before she realized what it was. The top picture really lets you see how you just cannot see them in the grass at all. I was pretty close, but could not see the upper body in the grass at all...and I knew it was there and was looking for it.  Goes to show how well camouflaged they are when in the grass.....and that I probably run by them all the time I don't know they are there.

 He kept an eye on us as he slithered off the bridge, but he never did rattle. I was kinda disappointed since it's such a neat sound...if your gonna have an encounter with a rattler, it could at least rattle for you and pretend to be afraid.

 Again, you can see how well he blends into the grass.  He went off the edge of the bridge and underneath it.

 It was great to get out there with my girls! That said, I dont' think we'll be out on that trail again anytime soon.  It's just too hot, no shade, and a bit too overgrown to have the girls out on.  I love running with them, but the mom in me says Castle Rock and Mitchell Canyon, with their shade and wide fire roads are safer in snake season.  By the way, did you know CA is supposed to have a record season for rattlers? Something about the conditions during winter being good both for breeding and for their food source.   So that's something to look forward to this summer! I bet I get to hear a rattler who will actually rattle before summers over. : )