[a hiker and snake meet on a road] I was hiking last weekend in Elk State Forest in Pennsylvania with a friend. We encountered a timber rattlesnake on the road. I've never seen one before in my life, so it was kind of strange. But he saw or heard us when we were 10-15 feet away, started rattling, we heard it and backed off. Everyone was happy. Eventually, he moved on (it had started drizzling). Now, of course, there's the tendency to exaggerate. Of course I do it, but I wouldn't put it past snakes either. Hence today's sketch.

[Update] (Dec. 10, 2005) Here's what the snake really looked like. And a full size version of the photo. Thanks to Deepak for (finally) sending it. images/Drawings/Sketches/rattlesnake.png