Focus on the sights, sounds and smells of nature
Spring is here, along with wildflowers, baby quail and rattlesnakes. Most snakes just want to be left alone. They’re living their life, trying to find food when a human just happens to walk close by. Most of the time, rattlesnakes “rattle” to warn the intruder and will back away if they can. The problem occurs when someone is not watching where they’re walking or they try to prove to their buddies how tough they are. The most common words spoken before someone is bitten by a rattlesnake is “hold my beer.” But the main problem is when we humans are not in tune to the sounds, smells and sights of nature. Often, we have our earphones on listening to music or are looking at the beautiful sights and not looking down where we’re walking.
I’ve had many close calls with rattlesnakes. Doing geologic work around the Mineral Park mine, I’d find several each day but I always had the opportunity to back away. The most stressful run-in with a venomous snake was in Costa Rica where I came face-to-face with a Fer de Lance pit viper. I was walking down a jungle path looking for rock outcrops to take geologic samples when a rustling in the grass alerted me to the snake. I’d nearly stepped on it! It was beautiful, almost mesmerizing, but highly venomous. I was an hour’s hike from my vehicle and several hours drive to the nearest hospital so there wasn’t room for error. I remained completely still until the snake decided he couldn’t eat me and slithered off.
My mistake was not being focused on what was most important at the time. I should’ve been looking where I was walking, stopping every-so-often to look for outcrops and then continuing hiking while focusing on what was around me.
The problem of not being focused on what can hurt you is not uncommon. Many of us make that same mistake - being distracted by what we think is important at the time when what can kill us is often directly in front of us. When hiking in the wilderness, focus on what’s on the trail, then look to the sides and then around. Always move your eyes, don’t remain focused on one thing, there’s more out there that can hurt you. Be in-tune to the sounds, sights and smells of the wilderness.
Focusing on what is in front of you could save your life.
While searching for a missing person in the middle of summer, I was driving down a desert road with my windows down and the air conditioner off. It was a powerline road and workers had driven on it over several days but hadn’t noticed anything wrong. When the smell hit me, I knew we’d found the missing person, deceased. Smell is an important clue that many times is overlooked, especially when windows are rolled up and the air conditioner is going full blast.
The sounds of the desert are also important. People wearing earphones while hiking don’t realize that nature is trying to talk to them and give them information, from the all-important rattlesnake rattle to the crush of vegetation when a deer is running away. Being focused on what’s happening around you can enhance the experience as well as save you from a rattlesnake bite.
The mountains are beautiful but what you see might be giving you more than beautiful vistas. It could be giving information that makes your outing more enjoyable, such as noticing vegetation that indicates which way is north to spotting wildlife. While on a search for a lost person, I was hiking along a ridge when I saw a flock of quail flush from the wash below. I was too far away to have scared them, as they tend to run and not fly until someone or something is close to them. It could’ve been a predator but the predator would’ve seen me and hid. I figured it must’ve been the person I was looking for so I hiked down to the wash and there he was.
As long as I’m on this soapbox, let me comment on the use of earphones while walking, running or hiking. It doesn’t matter if it’s on city sidewalks, paths, streets or hiking in the mountains or desert, it’s a bad idea. This is a loss of awareness. What’s worse is using the cell phone to text or call while driving. I bet that almost everyone has a story about someone who was texting while driving and wandered into the wrong lane. Don’t they realize that what might kill them is in front and not on the phone? Most think it’ll never happen to them.
Focus on what’s important and don’t be distracted. You’ll enjoy the out-of-doors and it might just save your life.
