Of all the rattlesnakes I've come across in my outdoor adventures, I can only recall one that actually did rattle. It had chosen to sun itself in the middle of a trail during a mountain bike race. At some point, someone probably did run over it. By the time I got there, it was REAL pissed off and started rattling when I was probably 8 or 10 feet away.
Kind of a funny conversation - you always try to warn the person behind you when you're riding.
So I yelled, "RATTLESNAKE!"
The next rider answers, "What?"
I yell again, "SNAKE!!!!"
The rider again answers, "What?"
Followed by a very loud scream of absolute terror! Pretty high pitched shriek for the size of the fellow who made the noise!
angela