Kyoo 189 - Aminal Encounters

Yes, aminal.  Aminal is more fun to say than animal.  And if you're dyslexic, you probably can't tell the difference between the two.  So there.

I went camping again last weekend.  This time at South Llano River State Park.  And, for the record, I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce that.  I know it should sound like South "Yawn-oh", but this is Texas so it could also sound like South "Lawn-oh" or South "Lane-oh" or even South "Shawn-oh".  So many possibilities.  I forgot to ask the rangers there for clarification.  I'd sure love to know so I don't sound stupid...

I could write a whole ton of blog posts about the pronunciations here...but this one is about my aminal encounters over the past weekend.

Encounter #1 - The Raccoon

I was pretty drowsy as I awoke on the third day of camping and had just moved Harold to my other side when I saw that...thing.  The thing was hanging out from under my sleeping pad.  I stared at it for a few milliseconds before it dawned on me that:

a)  the thing was unusual
b)  the thing was not anything that I recalled owning
c)  the thing looked strangely alive

Hoping desperately that Alisha owned a coon skin hat that she'd never showed off to me (not likely...) I nervously pointed at it and asked, "Do you own anything that looks like that?".

The answer?

A pale face and a choked out "No...".

That's about the time I glanced up and realized that we'd neglected to zip the tent up all the way the night before and there was a gaping 6-inch gap.  Realizing now that there was a good possibility we weren't alone in the tent, I did what any normal person would do in this situation...I planted my butt firmly on the sleeping pad so the "critter" couldn't escape while we were still in the tent...and called for the boys while Alisha and I both prepared to make a run for it.

We made a clean exit.  Real clean.  It was almost like we'd held raccoon infestation drills and practiced it before (but of course we hadn't...that would have been ridiculous...cough cough).

Too bad it was all a prank.  The kind, caring, concerned boys we went camping with had tossed the stupid tail into our tent the night before.  Unfortunately we fell for this classic prank...hard.

Go us.


Encounter #2 - The Feral Hog

Yes, more about feral hogs.

We'd been hiking for a good hour when we heard it.  A very distinct squealing noise.  Now remember, I've heard all sorts of stories about these elusive feral hogs and my curiosity is killing me to see if they're real.  Still, I don't know if it was my curiosity or the rapt eagerness of the boys to chase it down that got me on that excursion.  Either way, I left the rest of the girls and the safety of the trail to join in on the hunt.

I ended up on a sweep with Jed (the thrower of the raccoon tail mentioned above...but at this point I didn't know he was the raccoon tail thrower...so he wasn't on my hit list yet).  We walked off trail for a good hundred yards, carefully avoiding the many cactus plants and prickly bushes that hedged our way and keeping our ears perked for more hog noises (whatever those may be...) when we heard it.

A hog noise.

Hog's snort, right?  This was kind of a snorting/grunting.  It doesn't matter.  The noise sounded big and very defensive.  As if that wasn't enough, the bush in front of us was moving. 

At this point, fight or flight kicked in.  Notice how fight is first...

Fight:  Glancing around for protection, I saw a stick lying on the ground off to my right.  Jed gave me a humorous look and kind of laughed but I could see the fear in his eyes.  I picked up the stick, only to realize that it was about as strong as a pretzel.  One of those thin, stick pretzels.


Flight:  Deciding I could live another day without fulfilling my dream of seeing a feral hog, I turned around and booked it.  I was about as a graceful as an obese man on a bed of hot coals.  My road back to the trail was a mine field of cactus plants and prickly bushes!  But I was motivated, oh I was motivated.  Especially when I heard something large breathing behind me.  Good thing it was just Jed following suit.  It was a tense few seconds before I realized that.  I probably didn't set any land speed records, but I sure made it back to the trail in good time.

And what did my hiking buddies have to say about the whole thing?

"Are you sure it was a hog?  Brian said he saw a possum and Ryan saw a squirrel...and possums do make a lot of noise when they're scared..."

Of course it was a hog!  I did not just run for my life from a possum!

Encounter #3 - Roscoe the Rattlesnake

This encounter isn't nearly as cool as the name of the rattlesnake.  Roscoe!  How cool is that for a rattlesnake??  It almost makes me want to be friends!  I like how it just rolls of the tongue:  Roscoe the Rattlesnake...Roscoe the Rattlesnake...Roscoe...the...Rattlesnake.

I had way too much fun with that at work today.

Before you get all excited, know there will be no pictures posted of Roscoe.  I have a strict "NO PICTURES OF SNAKES" policy on my blog.  Just imagine a small rattlesnake and you have Roscoe.

Roscoe is one of the park ranger's pets.  He takes him around in a little cage to teach park users (like me!) about snake safety.  The ranger came around with Roscoe on the afternoon of our second day and I sure learned a lot.  For instance, he told us that:

• The rattle of a rattlesnake's tail is involuntary.  It's a reaction when they feel threatened.  Roscoe demonstrated this for us with rapture (in one sentence that would be "Roscoe the Rattlesnake reveals his rattle rapturously").
• If you see a rattlesnake you should back away calmly and slowly (right...).
• Rattlesnake antivenin needs to be replaced daily or it's not effective.  So places that should have it usually don't.  And you can die if you don't get it within a few hours.  And most places in Texas that have a lot of rattlesnakes are more than 2 hours away from a clinic with antivenin (awesome...).
• If you get bit by a coral snake you pretty much only have a couple hours to live.  Their antivenin is in REAL short supply and what remains expires this year.  The good news is that they're horrible biters and take a good 20-30 seconds to administer their venom.  So!  If you peel the snake off in the first couple seconds (and experienced people say this is like peeling Velcro off, just so you know), there's a good chance you'll survive.

Don't you just love snakes??

Sick.

Have a great day :)