I'm currently 20, and a python owner. growing up, I told to stay away from snakes in general.. as you can tell. didnt happen! unrelated story i have to share. This past summer my little brother (who is 15) and I went to my grandpa's, in a little town called desert aire. (i pratically grew up there. and always seen rattlers as a kid) We arrived there around 730pm, and the sun was just starting to set and it was roughly 70-75*. We haven't been up there for a good 5-6 years, so my little brother goes, "lets walk around." Without any hesitation i ran into the room, grabbed my flashlight and headed out the door. as we got toward the end of my grandpas driveway i noticed the bushes on the side of the road moving around, almost the same time my brother asks "why did you bring a stupid flashlight, we know where were going?" at this time the rattler was coming on to lay on the warm road, so i pulled my little brother back a bit to give the good sized rattler some room. (knowing they can lunge quite a distance), and shined my flashlight on it. i go this.. is why i have a flashlight. so for the remainder of the week we were there he always cautious, and pointed a few out i didn't see. just a neat story i had to share when i saw this.