Striking Without Warning

I cannot get the desert scenes of the Tucson mountains out of my head. I may have to move there. Of course, I was there when the temperature was perfect, and the rattlesnakes and scorpions were hibernating. I understand that the rattlesnake are deciding that warning humans is stupid, and they are becoming more aggressive. And this doesn't even touch on creatures like Gila monsters, or mountain lions. I saw the desert at its best. As my sister Amy and I bushwhacked through the desert, even she admitted that this was the perfect time of the year to be so cavalierly wandering where deadly poisonous creatures habitate. She is the one that told me the rattlesnakes have decided that rattling is an unfair advantage to the prey...and we are the prey.

"Are you sure this is true?" I asked. I am the gullible Gussy usually, and even I found this to be unlikely.
"It might just be an old wive's tale," she admitted, "But that is what I heard."

Well, I googled it, and guess what!? Other people are discussing this! Some experts believe it is an urban legend, but many herpetologists agree rattlers that don't rattle are less likely to be seen and killed. Thus through natural selection, they tend to pass on the nonrattling disposition to their little creepy babies. Take Heed: rattlesnakes do sometimes strike without warning!!!

This is terrible. However, it is a warning to those that would traipse through the desert and it can be amplified to include a spiritual warning as well. Evil doesn't always rattle its presence. Sometimes it slips in undetected, and before you know what hit you, you are poisoned. It is by far the greater part of valor to be vigilant and always avoid the dangerous hidden places where evil is most likely to lurk. And if you see any sign of it...run in the opposite direction!

Too many of us think we will not be bitten, and we realize long after it is too late that evil is a silent and cunning adversary.

I intend to only visit my sister in Tucson during rattler hibernation season.

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1 Peter 3:11
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.

Proverbs 3:7
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
 fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.