AFL great Nick Riewoldt has revealed he had a close encounter with a rattlesnake over the Easter weekend at his home in America.
The St Kilda champion left behind a lucrative job in the media when he moved his family of five to Houston, Texas at the end of 2022 to be closer to the family of his American wife Cath.
The family have settled into life on a ranch, but things nearly took a turn over the weekend.
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Speaking to former teammate and close friend Leigh Montagna on Footy Talk podcast, Riewoldt said he was “absolutely terrified” after trodding on a rattlesnake with his bare feet.
Riewoldt counted himself lucky that the snake didn’t strike given it can cause life-threatening injuries.
“Learnt a pretty valuable lesson about ranch life, it’s not like the beach, you’ve always got to have a pair of boots on,” he said.
“I went out to get a piece of wood, Joey (Montagna), to chuck it on the fire, it was dark outside. Being the ranch type that I am, I felt pretty confident in my surrounds.
“I walked out and I was looking for the light switch and I was walking along this wall and I looked down because I’d trodden on something, couldn’t quite figure out what it was until it started going ‘ch ch ch ch ch’ … it was a bloody rattlesnake.
“I trod on a rattlesnake with my bare feet. Somehow it didn’t strike and slithered off.
When asked by Montagna if he freaked out, Riewoldt said: “I absolutely lost it. Actually might have been a bit of residue in my pants. I don’t think I’ve ever shit myself that hard in my life. I was absolutely terrified. Terrified.”
“I called everyone out and everyone came out and had a look … they just sort of laughed at me.
“It was a bit of a close call for me.”
Riewoldt last year confirmed he was planning to return to Australia at some point.
“(We’ve got) every intention of coming back,” he told SEN in October.
“But that will play out over the next few months, what we decide to do.”
Riewoldt is one of St Kilda’s greatest ever players, captaining the club for 10 seasons and winning six best and fairest awards across a brilliant 336-game career.
After retiring, he went into the media and was a prominent commentator before relocating to Texas.