As far as we were concerned every rustle or movement in the undergrowth was a rattlesnake. Therefore when we actually saw a snake of course it had to be a rattlesnake and of course we did a quick reverse action. However, it turned out to be a gopher, a perfectly harmless snake. We didn’t know that at the time and it was pretty speedy too so I think we could be forgiven for being overly cautious. Our speed of retreat certainly paid off a little later when we nearly stepped on a proper rattler. When it comes to snakes, ‘run now and ask questions later’ is definitely the right course of action.