What do you do when a rattlesnake crawls in bed with you? Not a question many of you will face nor would ever want to, but it does happen. I’ll tell you what I did. First of all the rattlesnake crawled in bed with my two daughters–not with me. I’m not sure I’d have the courage shown by my oldest daughter, or would have stayed as calm. I am very proud of her. This is the story.
There are 15 varieties of rattlesnake in the United States. Only Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and Delaware don’t have rattlesnakes. The particular snake that crawled into bed with my daughters was the largest of all–the Western Diamondback. When the adventure was over the snake measured six feet long, had 10 rattles, was big around as my arm, and quite heavy.
We lived in southeast New Mexico near the Pecos River–an area of rocky foothills, scrub mesquite, creosote bushes, and rolling sand dunes. Rattlesnakes were abundant. It was a rare day that we didn’t see rattlesnakes. Our home was the very first in the area. The house was unfinished. We lived in one side while I continued to work on the other side. Summer had been very hot and dry. Fall was warm, but cooling. On one particularly nice day my daughters decided they wanted to camp out for the night.
Camping out is a relative term. What I did was move their mattress onto the concrete slab of what would eventually be the living room. Their “bed” was just opposite the master bedroom wall. We all settled down for sleep. The night was cool. The day had been in the high eighties, but a cool front moving through dropped temperatures to 57 degrees.
I was roused from sleep by my wife stirring and Carla, my 15 year old daughter, quietly calling, “Dad. Dad.” I glanced at the alarm clock–5:30 am. By this time my wife was awake. Carla quietly called again. I’m quite hard of hearing so I asked my wife what she said. The wife said, “snake!” then lay paralyzed. I got up, not knowing what to expect. I could hear a very high pitched buzz. I walked through the bedroom door. The girls’ bed (mattress) was to the left in a corner. On the floor, and next to Carla’s head, was a huge rattlesnake curled in striking position, head up, tail rattling furiously.
I said, “Don’t move,” and looked around for something to deal with the snake. Nothing was close and I didn’t want to move away. I carefully and deliberately grabbed a hand towel and considered what to do. I decided I would crowd the snake and try to make it move away from her. The snake paid attention to my movements but every time Carla flinched or moved a finger it would turn back toward her. I kept saying, “…don’t move.”
I moved up the side of the mattress until I was near Carla’s knees. I kept moving my hands around to keep the snake’s attention. Finally the snake dropped down and started to crawl–up on the mattress! Carla’s hair was fanned out behind her head. The snake crawled next to her head over her hair. I kept crowding. Finally I was able to step over Carla and shove her back out of the way with one arm. She was safe!
I hoped to keep the rattlesnake moving but it stopped near Debra’s head. Debra was 12 years old, asleep and laying on her belly. The snake curled, rattles buzzed. The snake head weaved and rocked. I kept gently waving the towel and my hand trying to keep its interest and force it to move again. I had some time because Debra wasn’t going to move. I thought.
Suddenly Debra’s eye opened. I said, “…don’t move!” She sat up. The snake struck!
I reached–and stopped the snake’s strike with the hand holding the towel just inches from Debra’s face. At the same time I grabbed the snake just behind the head with my other hand and threw it toward the corner. I quickly moved Debra back to safety.
The snake went crazy, striking in all directions including biting itself. I eventually killed and buried it. The snake was only looking for warmth because of the small cool front. The concrete slab was warm. It was just a bit of nature that collided with human civilization. I systematically cleared snakes away from the house after that. I had six children ranging from 4 to 15 years old. Couldn’t have one of them getting bit.
Thirty minutes after the snake adventure Carla and Debra went back to sleep–in the same bed. I didn’t sleep well for two weeks. My wife–remained paralyzed until well after the adventure. She never saw the live snake. I’m kind of glad about that. That was 30 years ago. I remember it well.
Gerald is an outdoor sportsman who travels by land or water over mountain forest, rocky foothills, and shifting sand dunes. In his spare time he designs and build wood composite kayaks and canoes. This is just one of his many adventures.