John: I may just try that Safers. Are you refering to their soap?
>I've had a D. villosa plant for a year or so now.
>It's of a reasonable size, but it's still green,
Rob, does it have a rosette of lanceolate leaves?
Hey, this last weekend I was hiking by myself in the desert, keying
out plants and having a good time. I was in a canyon on the narrow trail
when I suddenly heard this fwap sound, like someone slapping a soggy
sock on a rock. I looked down and saw that a rattlesnake had just struck
at me and was righting itself! I became a projectile and I seem to recall
shouting something not entirely legible---something like Ya-hwa-sha!
I landed some feet away and *then* the damned thing started to rattle.
I hike with water bottles attached to my pack via velcro, but I jumped so
fast I left them behind! Picking them up was an edgy process
I do not know why the thing missed me---I have theories but none seem to
make much sense. Anyway, my progress slowed on the trail after that---every
rock was examined more carefully for basking residents.
B