The reason I am concerned about the rattlesnake is that where I live, the most common serpent is the Mojave, a highly toxic critter. I have seen many of them over the years. Last Oct I stepped within a foot of one, lucky for me it was a cool morning. My kid runs around like most kids do, and does not look where the feet are being placed. I realize that snakes are more afraid of us than we are of them, but in the unlikely event that my little one was envenomated by a Mojave out in a national park, I would not have a lot of time to get where I know I need to go (Hi desert Medical).

However, the most fearsome of all creatures encountered in the wilderness is bipedal. Lucky for me, my little princess is uneasy with strangers, so she immediately clings to me when one is spotted. Thus, I tend to fret more about a serpent coiled up under a trailside bush than I do about child predators.

In the city (civilization) it's a diffrent game, and she plays and all, but papa hawk is always perched on a nearby branch. The funny thing is the closest she ever got to a wild rattlesnake was at the city park. One was coiled up under the monkey bars! I let the park staff know, and they removed the offending rattler, and relocated it to the nearby desert (something I specifically requested, and they did just that).

See Doug I KNEW my words would have no effect. There is nothing I can say to tamp down that snake worry you have. Its not rational and you know it and still, there it is. I have my own fears, some less rational than others. Snakes ain't one of em though.



Cheers!
DMT

Dingus Milktoast wrote:See Doug I KNEW my words would have no effect. There is nothing I can say to tamp down that snake worry you have. Its not rational and you know it and still, there it is. I have my own fears, some less rational than others. Snakes ain't one of em though.



Cheers!
DMT

nice pic BTW. Thinking about possible harm, I just realized that I worry a lot about Poison Oak here in SoCal since my kids tend to run off the trail all the time. And I've seen many really bad and serious cases of Poison Oak reactions.

Dude! I have given my kids lectures on poison oak at the start of and during most every hike in PO country.

Probably 10-1, maybe 20-1, the PO warnings vs the wild animal warnings.

They have fair Irish skin and have never contacted the evil oil. I take a small measure of pride in that.

They roll their eyes at me.... and repeat dutifully.

"shiny leaves in 3, leave it be."

You see that right there kids? Do you know what is is?

Hehe. See what I mean about irrational fears, btw?

DMT

SoCal,

You can call it an adventure and if your kids are as, if not more, tech savvy than you then have them take pix or video while exploring and post it on your websites and profiles.

Then they can text and email these same pix also to their friends as opposed to surfing the net or zombifying themselves with video games. Unless a majority of their friends participate in "true" outdoors activities, they may feel at times you're depriving them.

You could challenge them to take pix better than other kids or at least as good in kids mags like those from National Geographic like My Big Backyard. If they're tween ages, then use a little reverse psychology.

WileyCoyote wrote:SoCal,

You can call it an adventure and if your kids are as, if not more, tech savvy than you then have them take pix or video while exploring and post it on your websites and profiles.

Then they can text and email these same pix also to their friends as opposed to surfing the net or zombifying themselves with video games. Unless a majority of their friends participate in "true" outdoors activities, they may feel at times you're depriving them.

You could challenge them to take pix better than other kids or at least as good in kids mags like those from National Geographic like My Big Backyard. If they're tween ages, then use a little reverse psychology.

Great idea.

WileyCoyote wrote:SoCal,

You can call it an adventure and if your kids are as, if not more, tech savvy than you then have them take pix or video while exploring and post it on your websites and profiles.

Then they can text and email these same pix also to their friends as opposed to surfing the net or zombifying themselves with video games. Unless a majority of their friends participate in "true" outdoors activities, they may feel at times you're depriving them.

You could challenge them to take pix better than other kids or at least as good in kids mags like those from National Geographic like My Big Backyard. If they're tween ages, then use a little reverse psychology.

Like it a lot. Thanks. I probably will try that this weekend.

Since you all gave me some good advice on how to engage young kids to go with their dad on a hiking trip I just wanted to give you an update on how it went on one of the last weekends. We went on an adventure trip (yeah, I learned not to use the word "hiking") in Malibu Creek State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains with the prospect of some bouldering and wading through water. I "commissioned" my daughter to be the field photographer for most of the day and my son to explore the terrain ahead of us. I have to say it was probably one of the most enjoyable outings in quite some time. Everybody seemed to like it. My kids climbed (or tried at least) every boulder on our way... and there are many We had many snacks with us and I was patient to let them explore and climb every climbable rock on our way.

Just one picture of our fun day...



Thanks again to everybody for chipping in on that topic.

simpson wrote:Did you take any pictures of the kids bouldering?

No, I was not in charge of taking pictures this time

SoCalHiker wrote:

simpson wrote:Did you take any pictures of the kids bouldering?

No, I was not in charge of taking pictures this time

You took pictures, just with your mind instead of with the camera, and you'll remember this day for a long time. Good to hear all the different tips helped, and that you got them back into it. Keep it going!

way to go, guido! glad y'all had fun!

butitsadryheat wrote:You took pictures, just with your mind instead of with the camera, and you'll remember this day for a long time.

Nice and true words. Thanks.

MikeTX wrote:way to go, guido! glad y'all had fun!

Thanks. I just hope that they will enjoy the next one as well. Cheers.