Friday, June 24, 2011

Closing Rangers



So Taylor and I were closing rangers last night. I had the last tour of the day. Earlier in the day I was on trail patrol and from the morning, we had been getting reports of a rattlesnake around half-way. Royce asked me to look for it on my way up. He came down to escort a sick person and couldn't find it then OR on his way back up. I looked carefully and for a long time and couldn't find it on the way up. When I was at Dead Dog, some visitors reported again that they had seen a rattlesnake somewhere down around half-way. We asked 600 Adam to check it out and he was able to find it and babysit it until Royce could move it. I particularly enjoy the way Royce talks about moving rattlesnakes. He says, "That snake is unpacking boxes and selecting new draperies." Later in the afternoon, there was another report of a rattlesnake around half-way. This time our law enforcement ranger and Royce were on scene and Royce moved it (possibly the same one, we're not sure) again. We do this to protect the snakes. Anyway, Taylor and I were heading down the trail from the Junction and I said, "Okay, Taylor, let's look for snakes!" Were were just happily chatting as we approached Watch Point when we heard the buzz. We stopped and backed off as Mr. Snake decided to move on off the trail. I thanked him for giving us fair warning and pulled out my camera. He settled to the side and I grabbed a couple of pictures. He didn't really care for the flash and buzzed us again. We backed off. I said, "Okay, Snake, we are going to walk past you and you can have the whole trail all to yourself for the rest of the night!" I walked past and Taylor said, "Jody, don't leave me!" When she walked past, SHE got buzzed again! Goodnight, Mr. Snake. There will be more people this morning, so I hope you can figure out your strategy for dealing with us.

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