By Paul Sanderson • paulmsanderson@aol.com
Some weeks ago, a friend and I went for a walk in the Pequannock Watershed (West Milford) on the White Trail, accessible from parking areas P4 to P7 off Clinton Road. It was a beautiful day, and we were both wearing shorts. The first half of the trip was uneventful, but at one point, when I was about 5 feet behind my friend, out of the corner of my eye I caught something on the ground that didn’t look “right.” My brain immediately computed “JUMP!” and, with a very loud “Yaaaaah!” I moved about 3 feet forward. My friend turned saying “What? What?!” and I pointed at the snake we had just passed. The rattlesnake was facing away from the trail (and us) and it was not shaking its tail (rattling). I immediately noted that it had beautiful, startling black and white coloring, unlike any of the previous (three or four) rattlesnakes I have seen in New Jersey, all of which were sort of brown. My friend and I moved back a few feet more, hoping the snake would uncoil and slither away, but it just stayed as it was, and we resumed our hike. I thought, weeks later, that the snake had likely eaten something and was in a lethargic mood. Perhaps it recognized me as a Sierra Club member and felt reassured!