The area I live in, in Colorado, is relatively new construction.
My house is only 2 years old and in the next to last section to be built in Yuppy Ville. Which also means on the edge of undeveloped land.

They have plenty of green space, hiking trails (paved and not), and parks.
Well, native Colorado is mostly plains….  Things live on plains… 

Hubby and I take a quick hike up a long hill last night before my very dear friend from CA arrives on the light rail.
We are heading to our favorite part at the top where there is a dial in the gound that show you all the neat stuff around. Pikes Peak, Chattfield Res etc etc etc….

As we hit the top and head toward the dial we hear this sound. This is a sound that stopped my heart…

It was a RATTLE!!!

My brain scanned it’s known responses to animal behavior and all I came up with was – if it’s a bear – be big…

Crap – wrong animal
So we hot foot it away from the sound as I ask hubby WHERE IS IT?
Hubby (long fast strides right next to me) says – behind us….

Sound stops, we are not standing in grass, we are on the dirt, huffing and puffing and hoping our hearts do not explode.

But now…  We have to go back the way we came to get home.

Me – WHERE IS IT??????
Hubby – by some bush
Me – WHICH BUSH????
Hubby – I’m not sure, we were moving too fast!
After some squinting and looking, hubby spots him
HE IS HUGE!!!!!!! (make your hand into a capital C, that big around!!)
All I can see is a small section wrapped, I’m guessing here, around a bush…

So we speed walk back down the path, in the center, not near anything on the side, all the way back to civilization!

So we will now buy rattlesnake anti-venom and be carrying that with us on walks!

I chuckle as I recall seeing guarder snakes in our yard back home, and I used to kill them with a big steel rake my dad had (after I squealed like a little girl!).  Boy aren’t I brave!