There has been number of times when I get these "surprises" when I carry out work on my utility poles. A very recent one was when I was working on a ladder (about 10-11' tall) on one of my poles. The ground was a little soft from rain storms the previous night, but I thought I'd be fine. I was on the third step to the top when I froze in shock realizing that one of the ladders legs had sunk into the mud and that I was tipping over on my left hand side. I thought I was going to end up in the mud, but thankfully one of my poles were in the way and stopped the fall.