"Critters"--Snakes we've met

May 15, 2026

Canyon overlook at Palouse Falls

A jolt of adrenaline, and just a smidge of venom

When she still had her memory my mother told a story of visiting Palouse Falls when she was a young girl. She crossed paths with a rattlesnake and was so close to it when it rattled its warning that—with gravity pulling her toward the coiled serpent—she had no choice but to leap over it. I’ve had this same experience, more than once, and it’s a solid cardio and nerve test.

Fortunately, the Pacific Northwest rattlesnake, formally the Western Rattlesnake, rarely strikes people. My experience is that the snake’s rattle is used to let you know you’re in their space. If one then decides to provoke the snake, then all bets are off. That said, the number of bites on humans, per year, is usually between a dozen or two and not every bite injects venom. Although their venom can be fatal, there hasn’t been a deadly rattlesnake bite in Washington in this century. Texas, which has more than a dozen venomous serpents—including the larger and more aggressive Western Diamondback—is not so lucky.

I’ve not yet encountered every variety of Northwestern snakes, but I’m at least halfway there. My favorite is the Gopher snake, which is just emerging in May, as I’ve seen three in my last two outings. The Gopher snake (which some call the bull snake) is the largest of the lot, and sometimes (though not always) fairly aggressive. Blessedly, they’re non-venomous. That said, the scariest snake moment last year was on a swim where I was looking down for trout and nearly collided with an unusually large Western Terrestrial Garter snake—like the one below, only longer and thicker— which was fully stretched, hanging in the water column. It was so out of place, and stretching downward, that I got quite an adrenaline rush and a doubling pulse. I want nothing to do with pythons, well, except Monty Python..

Western Terrestrial Garter, swimming in the shallows

Gopher snake hunting in the grass

Western rattler on the rocks

The Racer snake, non-venomous but with a painful bite if handled

Northwestern Garter Snake on the trail

Gopher snakes in deep conversation at their den. (Note the prominent eyes, whereas the rattlesnakes eyes are not,)

Racer hunting for a bird’s nest, high in the thicket

Today’s seasonal snake manual is free but please consider a paid, annual subscription to The Daily Rhubarb at the link above. And watch your step out there….

Rock Creek at Escure Ranch, in beautiful but snaky terrain in western Whitman County

Western rattlesnake, coiled and tongue-flicking in the brush near a dry lake in Adams County. The prominent black dots on the face are pits, with the actual eyes just beneath the brow.

Gopher snake, probing the pine straw

—tjc