The craziest thing I have ever seen anyone do with a rattlesnake was a daredevil 16 year old traveling with my friend and I out in the desert. He asked us to stop because he saw a rattlesnake crossing the road (which I had tried not to hit and succeeded). My point of view is live and let live which means that unless the rattlesnake (or whatever it is) is threatening me or people around me I don't have to kill it.
So, this 16 year old idiot (more balls than brains) gets out of likely my VW which was then a 1966 VW Bug SeaBlue in color with white interior for college and he grabs this rattlesnake by the tail and then spins it around his head 20 or 30 times. Now this is at least a 3 to 4 foot long diamond back rattler and so my friend and I are saying: "Stop pestering the snake before you get bit and we have to take you to the hospital!"
So, he lets go of this snake he is spinning around his head and body and it flies through the air about 20 or 30 feet far from him and slithers away. This is the craziest rattlesnake story I have ever heard that I witnessed some idiot macho 16 year old do. We felt lucky we didn't have to watch him or the snake die and have to go to the hospital or morgue with this 16 year old.
Next story:
This is between Yucca Valley and Landers in this part of the high desert. It's 15 miles from Landers to Yucca Valley so this is in between so about 7 miles or so between the two. My father's best friend who owned a
Stinson 108 Voyager (1946–1950): A popular four-seat, tube-and-fabric high-wing aircraft frequently used for personal, family, and bush flying.
anyway, my Dad's best friend owned 2 1/2 acres of land then so this was around 1969 to the East of the road to Landers and Yucca Valley. My father had bought his own land by then but at this point at least we hadn't moved my Dad's Spartan 28 foot trailer that he was parking at his friends house as a vacation destination because my Dad loved the desert. I had a Ruger 9 shot .22 Revolver given to me by a Veteran of World war II and he gave me an officer's holster likely for a Colt .45 Automatic which often officers carried during world war II with a clip in the handle full of bullets.
So, I saw a Green mojave Rattler which is small but 9 times more poisonous than a Diamond back rattler so most people bit by a Green mojave die if the people don't know about the 9 times more poisonous part of a green Mojave Sidewinder rattlesnake.
So, I went to my Dad's vacation trailer and got my gun and loaded it because this thing was going to go into the house because the door was open and our friends and my family were in there. So, I shot several times the snake to make sure it was dead and couldn't kill anyone with the 9 times more powerful venom.
I think this is likely the ONLY rattlesnake I ever killed because like I said, "I believe live and let live if I can no matter what is threatening me and my family of any kind."
So, though I would have rather not shot it I needed to protect all the people in the house who had left the door open because it was hot from the sun.
Another time this same group a people were walking on a sandy dirt road nearby at night and the last person had a flashlight and said, "Hey. Did you guys know you all just walked over a green mohave rattler?"
However, I think it was too cold to strike or it was confused or who knows what was going on. After all, how many people walk in the dark across sandy roads in the desert in the pitch dark at night to see the Milky Way Galaxy perfect in those days? (late 1960s)
I have more experiences but I didn't get bit any of these times so I consider myself lucky as a result of this. Mostly if you hear them and stay still or slowly back away from the rattling sound you are okay.
It's when you aren't listening for the rattling sound of the snake that you might wind up dead or something in the deserts, mountains or almost anywhere wild in California or the Western States!
Also, if you are in the hills or mountains of California often there are Mountain Rattlers too which look completely different than diamondback rattlers.
regarding my Dad's best friend's 1949 Stinson plane:
Oh By the Way my father's best friend used to let me fly his plane (not take off or landing) between Yucca Valley Airport and Los Angeles when I was around 10 years old. One of the times he taught me to crab into the wind. Why?
Because often if you are flying between Mt. San Jacinto and San Gorgonio Mountains up that valley you are flying not more than 7000 feet in altitude so if you don't learn to crab into the wind you are going to be blown into San Gorgonio Mountain. So, you push the left rudder heading for Los Angeles and flying becomes a little more like Sailing a Sail boat at that point. But, at least you don't die from being blown sideways into Mt. San Gorgonio.
The left rudder is pushing the left pedal on the floor so you fly sideways into the wind but also heading for Los Angeles. So, your right wing is usually almost in front of your cockpit as you move forward through the crosswind there. So, this is why I say you are sort of flying sideways to miss the mountain and not be blown into it in the crosswind.
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