Shake, Rattle and Roll

This critter was just one of the many dangers faced by those who lived on the mountaintop. Tom has identified it as a Timber Rattlesnake. Tom shook the bushes with his walking stick and the snake moved off the road, rattling all the way. This was something I never expected to experience - encountering a rattlesnake in the wild. How many little children were bitten, I wonder, while playing in the woods?