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We did almost all our traveling around Moab in Chuck's SUV. This stairway was at the beginning of the trail to the Needles.
'Cryptobiotic soil' is what they call this stuff. Small living plants form a crust - over the soil and prevent erosion. Parks all around Moab have signs - asking hikers not to walk on it, because even gentle footsteps - will kill it, and it takes it decades to rejuvenate.
I got ahead of Chuck and Larry hiking, so I sat down on a rock in cool shade to wait - for them. I soon heard a buzzing sound. It was this rattler, three feet away! - I wonder if he could have bitten me with this hapless lizard already stuffed into his mouth. - I didn't test any such theory, though; I got up promptly! Going, going.... Damned near gone! Note the lizard is now causing a bulge in the - snake's jaw. Since rattlers kill their victims with venom promptly, - the lizard was surely dead before we saw the two of them. - I had sat, by the way, where the three white spots are - (the three small ones in the distance, not the big ones by the snake's mouth).

[ Trip to Utah in Fall 2004 ]
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