My close encounter (too close!) with a massassauga rattlesnake

In my August 6th post, I indicated that I would like to see a massassauga rattlesnake while visiting Georgian Bay Islands National Park. Well, my wish was granted: I not only saw a massassauga, I almost stepped on it.

This is what happened. Michel and I had been hiking for about 20 minutes when I heard a strange “ZZZZZ” buzzing sound (not what I thought a rattlesnake would sound like). Curious, I stopped to investigate. Glancing down, I discovered the massassauga no more than six inches from my foot, one more footstep and I would have stepped right on it! I jumped back at a safer distance but then carefully stepped a little closer so I could take some photos for my blog. The dangers of blogging!

Once the photos were taken, I was ready to resume the hike. But the rattlesnake still lay there in the middle of the path. Michel helpfully suggested I walk around it. Easy for him to say, he was already on the other side of the snake – he must have just walked right over it. He reassured me that the massassauga wouldn’t lunge at me but as he’s no snake expert I didn’t take my chances. Michel gently prodded the snake to the side of the path with his walking stick and I walked by it – the snake wasn’t more than two feet from me.

As you can imagine, I paid more attention to where I was stepping for the rest of my time in the park. As I escaped safe and sound, I was in the end quite pleased with my encounter with the massassauga.