Close encounter of the serpentine kind.
I haven’t suffered any real injuries from wearing my Vibram Five Fingers, the glove-like “shoes” I’ve been running in for the past 10 months. However, I came dangerously close to a very serious injury from a snake bite last weekend. While the shoes didn’t provide any protection in the way of coverage, the issue was actually the light running form they help me run in. Let me explain.
I was in Los Altos Hills in California outside of San Jose on private property at a community farm with the family last weekend. While my wife and girls checked out the crafts and mariachi band (it was a Cesar Chavez celebration) I decided to sneak in a run up into the hills surrounding the property.
As I ran up the north side of a hill and began to descend into the hotter south side the terrain changed dramatically. Instead of the single-track trail being lined by grass and flowers there were small shrubs and chaparral. It was also a good 15 degrees warmer and very sunny. A number of lizards scurried for cover as I approached.
The rocky and dusty trail began to zig zag under a canopy of tall shrubs and stubby trees. I was having a blast running the trail as I picked up the pace. As I rounded one bend I heard something like a rattle from under the shrubs. It was a different sound than the lizards and birds rustling the leaves. I wondered if it could be a rattlesnake. I had never come across a rattlesnake in the wild before so I couldn’t be certain if that’s what it was.
I started to scan the trail ahead with a little more intent to make sure there weren’t any snakes sunning themselves in my way. I sipped around a sharp curve and increased my speed on a short straightaway. Suddenly I heard a loud rattle, a quick rustle, and a sharp hissing sound right beside me. As I turned my head to the right I saw a flash of movement by my right knee. I stopped a few steps later and looked back to see a large rattlesnake reeling up, head pointed at me, showing his fangs and hissing with his tongue. He was on the slope just off the trail, placing him frighteningly close to me as I ran by.
I quickly glanced around where I was standing to make sure none of his buddies were nearby. I half expected several more rattlesnakes to appear and surround me like a posse in an old Western.
Finding the widest part of the trail to stand in I looked back at the snake. He was still raised up and obviously pissed. “F*&$,” I shouted, trying to let some of the adrenaline and fear escape my body. I glanced around my feet again to make double sure there were no other snakes.
Mr. Rattlesnake finally calmed down enough to slither across the trail, under a shrub, then across another section of the trail. He must have been about three and a half feet long. He was grey with black bands and a diamond head. I saw him take one last look at me from under the shrubs as if to say, “You got lucky this time, partner.”
Once the path was clear I summoned enough courage to run on, drawn by the sound of rushing water and promise of a waterfall at the bottom of the ravine. It only took me 20 feet, though, before I realized I was too scared to continue. I ripped a branch off of a small tree overhanging the path. I then turned around and headed back up the trail, stomping my feet and swishing the stick across the trail as I went.
I felt rather exposed in my Five Fingers as I walked along. There was nothing protecting me from a snake attack except measly mesh on the top and a thin rubber sole underneath. Being all alone, out of range of any cell-phone towers, made me feel even more vulnerable, even though I know rattlesnakes don’t attack unless provoked.
I hadn’t even gone 50 yards up the path when I encountered yet another rattlesnake! I hadn’t seen a single one in my life and suddenly I stumble upon several within a few minutes. Insane. I get chills looking at snakes in the zoo, when they’re behind protective glass! Now I’m staring at a second venomous rattlesnake with no protection at all.
I stomped as hard as I could a few times and the snake gave up his sun bath and slithered off of the trail. I don’t think many people take this remote trail, and the rattlesnakes have claimed it for themselves.
Yet I now realize that the biggest problem was my running style. Landing on the forefoot results in an almost cat-like silence. And even more importantly, as far as snakes are concerned, I did not make much of a vibration with my foot strike. These snakes simply had little to no warning that I was coming! Fancy that, I go to all this trouble to learn a light foot strike and it almost gets me a giant bite in the ass from a venomous viper!
I finally made it back to the farm without any further encounters. You can be sure I walked in the middle of the road the rest of the day!
I think I’m going to stick to the muddy trails for awhile, and only head into rattlesnake territory again with multiple runners (who heel strike with a lot of force!).
In Case of Snake Bite
I am not a medical doctor nor expert in this matter. Do your own research!
I read later that if you are bitten by a rattlesnake you are NOT to cut and/or attempt to suck the venom out. This doesn’t help at all. If that snake had caught me – and I think he was within inches with his fangs – I would have to sit down, elevate the leg, and wait for 20 to 30 minutes for the venom to localize before attempting to walk out. I can assure you that would have been a very hard thing to do.
Have you had a close encounter with a snake? Or other dangerous wildlife?
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Wow! That is so scary! I am so glad you survived the trip! Metal gear from hear on out!
Seriously, my heart was racing while just reading this! That is twisted! So glad you weren’t hurt!!!
Lucky for me, even though I’ve gotten the light strike down pretty well…my loud, exasperated breathing alerts all things in a 20 mile radius of my presence. Ha!
Thanks man! LOL, not sure huffing and puffing would save you, as I’m probably doing that too!
That may be my biggest fear while out trail running, besides a grizzly encounter. We have none in my neck of the woods “knock on wood”, but I can only imagine the fear that raced through your mind. I jumped over a garden snake the other day like it was nothing, as I generally am not afraid of snakes. However, rattlers are another matter.
I was just thinking about how I was a little skiddish when I was running barefoot and almost stepped on some garter snakes. This takes it up about 1000 times.
It’s great that you’re now aware of what to do in cases like this and to by hyper aware when you’re running. Glad to hear you made it out wiser, but unscathed.
i don’t understand why the emphasis on the lightness of the shoes? are you saying that the VFF are to blame because they enabled you to run a trail that you otherwise would have avoided? would you really have felt any safer in full running shoes? Surely the problem is not the shoes per se but your lack of awareness that there are indeed snakes in California desert terrain!
I’m definitely not blaming Vibram Five Fingers, only my light style of running. And I wouldn’t change that for anything! You’re absolutely right: the message is I need to be more aware of the potential pitfalls of trail running and that there are some new pitfalls because of the way I run. Oh, and yes, I would feel safer in Full shoes, yet certainly not that much safer.
Thanks for the questions. Clynton
Good post. I found it after googling “trail running snake” after I had a similar experience today. My dog and I ran within a foot of a timber rattler today in the Blue Ridge. I was scanning the trail for foot placement, but he looked just like a root until I passed him. He was stretched out parallel to the tread of the trail, sunning himself. My interpretation was the opposite of yours. I was wearing huaraches and really focusing on a quiet, efficient form, so I wasn’t making any noise and probably minimal vibrations in the ground. I think if I’d been clomping through the woods in trail shoes, he would have coiled at the sound of my approach (that’s what he did when I stopped to check him out from a few feet away). I think by sneaking up on him I deprived him of the chance to get coiled and defensive.
I too felt vulnerable in my nearly-bare feet, but I reasoned that most snakes strike several inches above the ground. Most of the over-engineered rigid hiking boots I’ve ever had still don’t come high enough up my leg to protect me from a snake bite. I think there might be some false comfort inherent in more substantial shoes, just like there’s false comfort against poor running form in substantial shoes.
Thanks. Interesting that you had the opposite experience, having crept up on and passed the snake silently. You’re probably right that shoes and boots provide a false sense of security when it comes to snake just like they do with running. I think 90% of my fear is mental, meaning the danger of being bit is pretty low on most trails under most circumstances. That being said, we do need to be smart about where we run and place our feet.
Thanks for sharing your experience. On another note, how are the huaraches working out for you?
“we do need to be smart about where we run and place our feet.” — that seems like the bottom line, for a number of reasons.
I love the huaraches. I prefer being totally barefoot on the trail because it’s so zen and quiet and there are so many different interesting feelings underfoot, but the huaraches have enough sole that I can spend less mental energy on foot placement, if that makes sense. There haven’t been any issues with pebbles getting flicked in between the soles and my feet, which was my initial concern.
Thanks for having the discussion. These are probably the types of snake encounters humans first started having 200,000 years ago. I guess we can be grateful that some of our American venomous snakes have the common decency to rattle a warning.
Glad the huaraches are working out. I’ll have to try them sometime. Yes, very polite of the rattlers to give a warning (as long as we don’t sneak up on them and scare them!).
I was hiking last summer in VA with my girlfriend in my VFF’s. Maybe because I had been focusing on my walking or being super attentive, but I noticed a cotton mouth (I think) coiled a few feet from my girlfriend’s legs. I reached over and pulled her away; luckily the snake didn’t seem aggravated.
Lesson learned: increase your attentiveness on the trails with VFF’s!
Wow, close call! My encounter has made me quite nervous out on the trails, though I think the chances of getting that close to a bite again are really quite low. I think I’ll stick to the larger fire roads in the summer. Thanks for sharing.
Oh man, good to know you are ok but I’m learning from this experience for sure considering i don’t even use vibrams on a regular basis. This will have to be taken into account a lot. yikes.
Oh man, good to know you are ok but I’m learning from this experience for sure considering i don’t even use vibrams on a regular basis. This will have to be taken into account a lot. yikes.
Great Post! I enjoyed the read. I have not yet encountered any snakes, except for the nonhazardous ones. But, I have heard a mountain lion scream on a trail run that my buddy and I were on once. Quite frightening. My friend just bought a pair of those five toe shoes. I can see how you would feel very vulnerable to attacks. Me? I will just stick with my steel toed boots on trail runs. lol
Thanks. Wow, a mountain lion scream while on the trail would be quite the shot of adrenaline I imagine!