Big Bend Video is up.... (1 Viewer)

[TEXASLAWMAN]

Here is the video its low quality for the internet....


http://video.google.com/videouploadfinished?docid=4621098737391288895&cid=f5f4f88036f27dcf

 

[JasonH]

Git some!

I like John's desert dance. Good stuff sir.

 

[BrettinSanAntonio]

That was a great desert dance.

I didn't realize we had the snake recapture video. I wish we had video of the five drunk guys catching it the night before.

 

[BrettinSanAntonio]

Hey, how do I get a higher quality copy of the video?

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

When I come down to defend the Alamo with my shotgun and cowboy hat LoL...

 

[airlaird]

So there's rockcrawling there?? Cool...I thought it was just trails
Steve

 

[JasonH]

We came across two places where we were 'rockcrawling'. Both were a lot of fun. Since they don't have names, I'm naming them now. There was one on Terlingua Ranch I'm calling Cactus Ridge. There's a couple of pictures of us on that one - on the side of a hill overgrown with cactus. The other one in the video is Dead Horse Wash. It's a fun rocky wash that dead ends at a waterfall. There's what looks like a grave site at the end that I'm assuming is a horse.
An 80 is the absolute perfect vehicle for out there. I'm definitely bringing mine next time.

 

[JasonH]

I wish we had video of the five drunk guys catching it the night before.

That was hilarious! You'd have thought we were trying to catch a pit viper.

 

[TinStar]

Sure looked like a viper to me.....I hate snakes. I think Brett has a couple screws loose for actually catching one.......

 

[BrettinSanAntonio]

I think I'll call Dead Horse Wash....Running Board Ripper Creek. Must....call....Metal Tech.....

The spot at the end is perfect for a lunch stop. I could see a large group setting up a sun shelter and cooking up some lunch.

We came across two places where we were 'rockcrawling'. Both were a lot of fun. Since they don't have names, I'm naming them now. There was one on Terlingua Ranch I'm calling Cactus Ridge. There's a couple of pictures of us on that one - on the side of a hill overgrown with cactus. The other one in the video is Dead Horse Wash. It's a fun rocky wash that dead ends at a waterfall. There's what looks like a grave site at the end that I'm assuming is a horse.
An 80 is the absolute perfect vehicle for out there. I'm definitely bringing mine next time.

 

[BrettinSanAntonio]

The whole time the snake had a shotgun barrel in his face. I kept thinking of the guy Dick Cheney peppered while I was down there trying to catch the little guy. It would have made for a long drive home coming up with an explaination about my new facial features.

That was hilarious! You'd have thought we were trying to catch a pit viper.

 

[BrettinSanAntonio]

LOL.

You guys crack me up.

We have two, well armed law enforcement officers that have to deal with human slime on a daily basis but a three foot long snake makes five grown men jump when it falls out of the cage. I can't wait to go back. Next time I'm bringing two or three snake cages.

Todd was ready to suck any venom. I saw he had his trusty snake bite kit in his free hand.

Sure looked like a viper to me.....I hate snakes. I think Brett has a couple screws loose for actually catching one.......

 

[JasonH]

I dug through the old Cruiser archives and found the Cruiser/snake posting I was talking about. Originally posted by Matt Meservey in 1999...

_______________________________________________________________

Although some rattlesnakes might find cruisers cozy, other types of snakes
don't. I took a gopher snake (blow snake to us western folk) up to the
local college for identification last summer and on the way home I got cut
off by a crazy person in an econobox. I slammed on the brakes and the
bucket the snake was in tipped over and the lid popped off. I have two
young sons where were both strapped in the back of the 1981 FJ40. A 4 year
old strapped to the normal jumpseat and a 2 year old in a car seat strapped
to the jump seat behind me.
As I accelerate after the near miss I hear my 4 year old groaning and turn
around in time to see him trying to climb the inside of the hard top despite
the seat belt. He's looking at the floor with eyes the size of dinner
plates and his veins are all standing out on his neck. I look at the floor
and there is that 5 foot gopher snake crawling out of the box and hissing.
(If you've ever heard a blow snake hiss, it's enough to decalcify your
spine)
I , not liking snakes one bit, get a little panicky. It's 5 pm, in heavy
rush hour traffick. The 2 year old is squealing and pointing at the snake
and waving at it. As I try to get over to the right hand side to pull over,
the snake heads for the dark hole behind the two year old's car seat. This
seat is behind me on the drivers side. I look in the mirror as the snake
picks his head up and tries to get into the little crevice. The two year
old, who is really excited now, bops the snake on the head. Jake, the
four year old, is still trying to exit the cruiser through the vent window.
After about four slaps to the head by my two year old, the surprised snake
finally makes it's way behind the car seat as I get pulled over. I run
around back and grab the last of the snake as it tries to crawl up into my
seat. He's 5 feet long and really strong. I can't keep a grip on his hind
end and he gets away, making it up to the drivers seat. Once he's there
he spies the kickpanel vent and tries to get away by crawling out the vent.
I push him back in and shut the vent. I open the drivers door to grab him
and stick him in the box just as I see him dissapear up into the dashboard.
I grab him again and pull as hard as I dare but he's got a good grip on
something up in there. After about five minutes I give up and he gets up
into the dashboard.
I wait ten minutes for him to come out but he never shows so I guess he's
hiding up there as traumatized as we are. I decide to make a break for
home about 15 minutes away and just open all the doors and let him crawl out
when he's dang good and ready.
I nervously get in and ease back into the street, trying to watch the heavy
traffic, my thonged feet and both floorboards all at once.
Well I must have been paying too much attention to the rush hour traffic or
got lulled into a false sense of snake-security because I glanced down just
as he crawled out and touched my right foot on the gas pedal, apparently
heading for the vent again. My only reaction was to swear, swerve
violently and jam the gas pedal down to the frame, almost killing someone
in an astrovan. I let up to avoid the van which brought me back in contact
with the snake again and caused my traitorous foot to involuntarily bury
itself in the floor again. This happened about four times very very fast,
causing a pretty exciting bucking motion of the cruiser that had my two year
old cheering, people honking and giving me the finger right and left, and
the snake to swing crazily around near my feet. Hissing the whole time.
The snake, who apparently had had enough of the bucking and cursing
retreated to the dashboard to plan a new strategy. I tried to pry my
fingers off the steering wheel and wipe the spittle off the windshield so I
could see.

I laid on the gas to beat a path home and was so intent on not killing
anyone and not letting the blasted snake sneak up on my bare foot again that
I never looked at the passerger side floorwell again. At least until I saw
some motion over there and saw the snake trying to exit the flying cruiser
out the passenger side kick panel vent which I had forgotten to close when
he tried to get out my kick panel.
I was in heavy traffic and couldn't have a 5 foot snake leaping to his death
from my cruiser so I did the only thing I could thing of, grab that stupid
foot eating, dashboard loving, vent crawlin' snake by the tail and hold on
for dear life. A 5 foot gopher snake is strong, really strong. He must
have had a good hold on something because I couldn't get him back in the
cruiser for anything. So I one hand on the wheel, on hand holding the
fifth foot of a 5 foot snake, my foot buried in the floor and about three
feet of snake dangling in the wind outside my cruiser. People kept honking
and pointing to the snake as if I wouldn't have noticed a huge snake hanging
out my cruiser as I hung onto him for dear life. I couldn't get him back
in, I couldn't find a gap in traffic and I couldn't pull over. So I did the
next best thing I could think of, I jammed the pedal down and headed for
the freeway as fast as I could. After a very tense couple of minutes
tearing down the road with people honking pointing and giving me the finger
I finally made the freeway. I rocketed down the on-ramp, went about a
hundred yards and finally shot off the side of the road at full speed wiping
out a reflector and dinging my bumper. There is huge lake and a park there
and I let that stupid snake go. He lept out of the cruiser like it was on
fire. (In retrospect, where he was perched in the dashboard, it probably
felt like it was on fire. I gotta get some thermal insulation...)

After a few minutes trying to calm my nerves and my four year old I finally
pulled on the freeway and went home. To this day, my four year old Jake
has to check under his seat whenever he rides in the cruiser.

 

[davegonz]

Great story Jason..shoulda sent it in to TT.

 

[wdwgdas]

Gret video! Great Country! Great Texas!