Zion National Park -- this big rattler was right next to our ankles

Zion National Park inside Kolob Canyon. We hiked the Middle Fork of the Taylor Creek trail; on the way back we were walking very close to the face of this rock and chatting when all of a sudden I heard a very close rattle snake. Fortunately my ears quickly honed in on where he was and I turned my head as a confirmation to its location (I wanted to make sure I ran away from the rattler and not into the rattler, so I was definitely looking before leaping). I yelled "RUN" and quickly took off running in the opposite direction of the very close snake. To my surprise, Mallory just stood there and said something like "Why?" She was oblivious to the fact that a rattler was only one to two feet from her ankle --- which looked to be well within its striking distance judging from its long body length that we later saw (and I recorded on this video, using the zoom of course, despite Mallory's objection). Fortunately for both of us, the snake decided to just warn us and go on its way. Needless to say, we looked quite intensely for rattle snakes during the final 90 minutes of our hike. Once back in our car, we drove to the visitor center to ask them if they had any anti-venom and what we should have done if we had been bitten. The ranger told us that they don't keep any anti-venom, and that had we been bitten we should have hiked out ourselves, and then drive to the nearest major city, Cedar City, and locate their hospital in order to get anti-venom. Pretty crazy in my opinion that the Visitor Center doesn't have any anti-venom, and that they neither warn you to look out for rattle snakes nor do they inform you in advance what one should do if bitten.

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Travel & Events

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