Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?

This was a post I was going to write yesterday, but for some reason or another I put it off. Anyway, back to the subject: snakes. About this time of year, the late afternoon becomes cool enough for snakes to be active along the trails that I ride my mountain bike on. Colorado happens to be very lucky in that it only has one poisonous snake...hmmm, just to be sure I better Google that. Oh, it turns out that we have two poisonous snakes: the Western Rattler and the Massassauga, which also happens to be a rattler as well. Either way, it's somewhat disconcerting to come upon a snake crossing the trail while riding. (Especially if you run them over.) Snake identification from the saddle of a bicycle can be rather difficult. At other times, the sound of the rattle does tend to focus your attention (and raise your heart rate).