Sports Editor Ike Dodson shows off a wild rattlesnake.

Don Moyer/Sun Post 

            Like Thorny from Super Troopers would say after downing a full bottle of syrup — “I am all that is man.”

            Yes, it’s true, I tangled with a beast deadly enough to kill a man, and I lived.

            On Saturday, Sun Post columnist Don Moyer took me into the hills southwest of Manteca in search of rattlesnakes that needed to be relocated from an active ranch in the area.

            After just a few miles of searching, I spotted a speckled serpent slithering through the prairie (say that 10 times fast), and called out to Mr. Moyer for our first — and only — rattlesnake catch of the day.

            Don plucked him from his grassy home, and I was given the opportunity to snag him on a snake stick and drop him into a sack.

            The quick catch wasn’t the battle I was expecting, but  I won't forget the thrill of sighting the snake, or the chill I felt up my spine as he began to rattle feriously.

            And while I wasn’t busy catching blue-belly swift lizards and gopher snakes, I was enjoying the scenery of a wild land I rarely witness in my daily city life covering sports.

            We saw areas of land that looked untouched by man in nearly 40-years, and between elk-sightings, endangered tadpoles and stubborn cattle, it was well worth the trip into wilderness just a short drive from Manteca.

            The trip taught me plenty about rattlesnakes, and even more about the value of trips into the beautiful outdoors that California has to offer.

            I know I won’t miss out on my chances to explore the wilderness this spring and summer, and between fishing, camping and rattlesnake hunting, this could be one of my best summers yet.