Our Snake Story

We got an invitation to go camping up at Roosevelt with some friends over the holiday weekend. It was our first trip out this year, so we were all very excited. For those of you familiar with Roosevelt, we went up just west of the Wilbur-Keller ferry.
It was a long hot drive there but the most exciting part about it was taking the ferry across the lake. At first the kids were a little spooked by it, but once we got going they thought it was pretty cool.
At long last we arrived at the campsite and joined several other trailers already there. It was beautiful to be camping right at the top of the beach. However, this was VERY different from our normal camping experiences. We're typically the "backwoods" type of campers, where there are forest trees, shades, streams, etc., while this was hot, dry camping - in rattlesnake country. Yes, I said rattlesnake.....
Our friends have been camping here MANY years and have never seen a rattlesnake. Leave it to us to be the first! The first night there the kids were all running around exploring and getting to know each other on the beach as most of the adults were gathered around the campfire socializing. I soon realized that I hadn't seen Hunter in quite a while - he finally showed up with his Nintendo DS in hand. I told him he couldn't have that out on the beach - that it was for in the trailer only. So we walked back over to our trailer (where he had been just minutes before) to put it away.
Just as we were approaching the trailer, we heard a "rattle" RIGHT in front of us. Now it was dark and we had no flashlight, but we could see where we were going because the moon was very bright. As soon as I heard that "rattle", I could see him too - right in front of us less than 2 feet away. I grabbed Hunter's hand and immediately backed-up and turned and high-tailed it outta there!! Once back at the fire, I said "there's a snake!" and someone said "no it's just a grasshopper". I repeated, "no, there is a snake", so the men set off with flashlights in hand and came back 5 minutes later with.... a rattlesnake. It was 4 feet long 9 years old (based on his rattles). They eventually killed it.
I was in shock after this, and just wanted to go to bed. The kids were freaked so we stuffed towels in the sink, etc. This was not the best way for me to start the weekend - with a near death experience - and I hate to think of all the other ways it could have turned out. I constantly was thinking of all the "what if's" and other questions... What if Hunter had set him off earlier? Would he know what to do? What if it had bitten him? What if he's bitten me? Will there be others? Will they get into our trailer? Do they come out during the day too?
The next day I was reassured that they do NOT come out during the day - they typically only come out after dark to warm themselves on the hot sand. Eventually we were able to relaxe as the weekend progressed and to have some fun. But once night fell, the kids and I were in bed. Some may have thought that I was being a party pooper, but seriously, I never go to bed that early - especially when we're camping. It was the fear of future snake encounters that sent me packing to bed once the sun went down.