I worked on a biological study for the federal government two summers ago in New Mexico and Arizona. We were studying a bat population in one of the mountain ranges in the area. The job required lots of time spent hiking through what you could easily call alien terrain. The area we were studying has one of the highest bio diversities of animal species in the United States. So I had a number of encounters with wild animals and plants. One particular day we had been hiking all day in the desert sun looking for mine shafts around a cliffed plateau. I was worn out, thirsty, hungry, and sun burnt but enjoying my adventure despite the work involved. I split from the group to go check over a few hills for a shaft that was showing up on the GPS. As I found my self getting farther and farther from the group realized I was starting to enter into a flow experience moving swiftly through the spiky vegetation feeling deeply connected with my new environment. My worn condition added to the experience in that I was feeling very content and accomplished with my work. The experience quickly changed when I looked up the steep hill side I was moving up and right into the face of a Mojave Rattle Snake. This particular species happens to possess the most toxic venom of any species in the United States. I suddenly had a weird sensation that both the rattlesnake and I were some how understanding of each other. I felt small and scared at first in the face of what could be a painful and slow death, but the feeling quickly faded and instinct pulled me back while the snake looked me intensely in the eye following my every away from him. It was as if he knew his power and knew that I was only walking by not trying to hurt him. He was an embodyment of the sublime, and my encounter with him reinforced my respect for the power of the natural world and all that dwell within in.
- November 17, 2013
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