Thank you for the replies. I agree snakes smell, been there, done that. I have smelled wild hogs several times and am familiar with their odor. There is a wild animal game ranch near Stone Mountain and I have been around cougars, bears, coyotes, buffalo, elk, etc.; and experienced their sounds and odors. Also, we have the stinky plants near our home there in Rabun county. This odor hung in the air like skunk odor does, and dissipated with time. It also seemed to move along the trail in the same direction we did, but off to the side. Visibilty to either side of the trail was less five to ten feet at most places. Whatever it was, it didn't like us being there and I believe trailed us off to the side for a short while.

My wife has often asked why I had more than one or two handguns. I always reply "A handgun is like a screwdriver, one will not work for every application". Yesterday, I told her I was carrying the wrong screwdriver. That will not happen again.