Vitaliy M wrote:These are gopher snakes, right? They are not known to attack humans and are not poisonous, right?
The snake in the photo is a sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes). The raised supraocular scales help to identify it. It is venomous.
As pointed out, they do not attack humans. Their most predictable direction of travel will be directly
away from wherever you are standing. In fact, I got a short video of him or her sidewinding off the sandy road into the bushes. It's a really cool movement to watch, so I'm glad I had grabbed my headlamp out of the car for lighting. (He or she was in the road as I drove by.)
Here is a still photo, since I can't post the video:
Again, no, they do not attack humans. Neither do scorpions, but I suppose it's possible to get stung if one winds up in your sleeping bag. I doubt it's very likely for a snake to wind up in or near your bag, but as pointed out, it's not unheard of. They crawl (or sidewind
) away really fast from awake, moving humans. But a sleeping, motionless person might not be recognized as a threat.
And again, no
attack, but they (and scorpions) do bite (and sting) humans defensively. And he or she might just take offense to you trying to crawl out of your bag with him or her next to you.
Whether that very slim chance of an encounter is worth considering is up to each person to decide. I have slept on the ground in the desert and didn't worry about it. But there are maybe other times in the desert where I might have it as a remote possibility in the back of my mind as I try to fall asleep. I would consider the possibility of a snake much less likely than a scorpion based on their relative population densities.