Snaking Away

Before he can reply, Sifert interjects, "We know six guys who aren't." There is a round of rude laughter.

Moments later, Holycross spies a lizard outside the tent door and dispatches Smith to catch the critter. Smith scoots out the door with a long stick with a wire noose attached.

"I'm going lizard fishing," he says. But the lizard gets away.
Sifert, meanwhile, begins passing out heavy plates of tuna and noodles. The ridgenose rattlesnake, now released from the plastic tube, slithers around on the dirt floor. Lunch is enjoyed while a venomous serpent wiggles across the dirt within a yard of a dozen feet.

Everyone is delighted.