Okay, so I haven’t seen any lions or tigers or bears yet, (folks do say there are mountain lions and bears in the hills), but I have had the pleasure of seeing my first rattlesnake and black widow! In both cases, after a bit of reading, I was reminded that while we should be careful with these creatures, they are not necessarily as immediately fatal to healthy humans as popular culture (or maybe just my over active imagination) would lead me to believe.

Quick summary of safety precautions
rattlesnakes: leave them alone. If bitten stay calm and seek medical attention.
black widows: squish ’em, or remove them. If symptoms of a bite appear (flu-like), seek medical attention.

And, now, the pictures! Here’s the baby rattler that I found near our water tank. To give a sense of scale, it’s curled up in a circle about 2.5” across. And, yes, I used a zoom lens!

And here’s the black widow that I found while working on the yurt (pictures to follow!). When I tapped her she curled up and rolled over (playing dead?).

 

More information about rattle snakes in general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake

More information about Crotalus oreganus oreganus (Northern Pacific Rattlesnake) http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.o.oreganus.html

More information about Latrodectus hesperus (Black Widows) in California: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74149.html