Above: The old Hyatt Ridge trail, as it exists today. Most of the old jeep access road has faded away, but on the steep mountainsides in spots like this one, the remnants of the graded road are still visible. This is a very open stretch of the old trail - most of it is now a tangled mess of rhododendron and fallen trees. I still like exploring the ridgeline though, with its beautiful stands of old-growth timber that somehow avoided the lumberman's saw. While doing this hike/bushwhack in late April, I ran into two small rattlesnakes while crawling through some downed trees that had fallen across the old path. Needless to say, I backed out of the tangle in a hurry and decided that the bushwhacking season was drawing to a close for me.

A lot of people believe that rattlesnakes don't frequent the high country of the Great Smoky Mountains, but these were spotted at an elevation close to 5,000 feet. Others have been seen high on the shoulder of Old Black at an elevation close to 6,000 feet. They aren't as common up high, simply because of the lack of food and safe haven from freezing weather. However, if there is sufficient food, and shattered or creviced rock that offers deep enough shelter to let the ornery reptiles winter shelter below the frost line, there will be at least a few coontails roaming the brush. Weedy areas with a of seeds on Hyatt Ridge provide ample food for the mice and squirrels that the rattlers feed on, and there are lots of rocky bluffs with crevices reaching deep enough into the earth to provide shelter to the snakes against the most brutal winter weather. I suppose that the mistaken belief originated with early travelers in the Park that rarely saw snakes up in the crown of spruce/fir forests that cover the highest ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains. That sort of forest simply lacks the resources that the snakes need to survive. Rattlers don't suffer from altitude sickness, but they do need to eat. The best policy is to simply be on the watch regardless of where you are in the Smokies. It's not a reason to avoid the backcountry, but simply one of the things that a hiker needs to be aware of while traveling the trails in warm weather. Rattlers are shy and retiring by nature, and given the choice, will nearly always either retreat or try to be still and avoid detection. I think that most hikers would be amazed by the number of poisonous snakes that they step within easy striking distance of while on the trail. A friend of mine once showed me a device that he used to find snakes around the campground where he worked in Pisgah Forest. It was a simple device - a 4 foot long stick with an angled mirror on the bottom of it. He'd use either a strong flashlight or another mirror to reflect light from the bottom mirror into hidden ground-level holes and beneath rocks and logs. I was flabbergasted by how many snakes we found in only short period of time. In that instance, the snakes were probably attracted to the area by the numerous mice that in turn, were attracted by the abundance of food scraps that were scattered around the site.

The timber rattler, seen in the rocky, brushy habitat that it prefers in the photo below, gained the 'coontail' moniker because of the dark rings that are often seen near the end of its tail. The rattle is composed of keratin (just like your fingernails), and is a poor indicator of the snake's age, since the rattle is brittle and breaks off quite easily. Young snakes, only 10 inches or so in length, already have a 'pre-button' that will be shed along with its skin at its first shedding. A new segment is added to the rattle each time that it sheds its skin, an event that may occur several times a year if the growing conditions are good. In rocky areas, the rattle is more likely to be blunted from frequent breakage, with the biggest rattles being found on snakes in swampy regions with few hard surfaces.

About 20% of the defensive strikes by timber rattlers fail to include any venom. The venon is a potent mix of anti-coagulants, neurotoxins, and hemotoxins, a collection of highly specialized proteins that aid in pre-digestion of their prey in addition to immobilizing it.

Having said all of that, the rattlesnake is one of the most fascinating residents of the Great Smoky Mountains and should be left alone if encountered. They are endangered in many regions, mostly because of persecution by humans who have an un-natural fear of the legendary reptile. If you use common sense in the backcountry, the snakes present very little threat to your safety. If you run across one, don't try to kill or catch it. That's how the vast majority of bites occur. Avoid putting your hands and feet into places that you can't see into. Carry a flashlight when moving around your camp at night - in hot weather, the snakes often become primarily nocturnal. Know the type of habitat that the snakes prefer - rocky, brush hillsides with an abundance of food for the small mammals that they prefer to eat. Be aware that though the rattler is most often seen on the ground, they're pretty good clmbers that will sometimes climb into shrubs such as blueberry bushes to lie in wait for birds or mice that feed on the berries. Most of all, remember that it's the critters like the rattlesnake that put the 'wild' in wilderness.