Monday, January 23, 2006
All’s well that ends well!
Several years ago the residents of Haines, Alaska, were all in a dither when the remains of a garter snake were found along side a road. At least it was supposed to be a garter snake, but it had been abused by an automobile tire and was scarcely recognizable in its flattened mummified state. It was news because snakes are a rare commodity in Alaska—so rare in fact that Alaska does not have an official state snake. It does not matter that there are no snakes in the state because there are no wooly mammoths either and the wooly mammoth is the official state fossil. But if there were an official state snake it would probably have to be the flattened mummified garter snake because while a snake in that condition is not a pretty sight, it is the only snake you got!
Over the years snakes have earned a horrible reputation—partly due to the Garden of Eden mess. In recent years JK Rollins has help to perpetuate that stereotype in her Harry Potter series. But sometimes looks can be deceiving. For instance, take the garter snake. A few years ago I was in my small garden picking Kentucky Wonder pole beans. As I reached for one particular bean, it suddenly moved. It was a garter snake that was enjoying sunning itself high atop the beanpole. Probably harmless unless someone reached into the basket of beans and mistakenly tried to snap off its head. And then who knows? How do you explain to a doctor that you were bitten by a bean? Just look at those bean marks on my fingers!
Snakes love trees and boats. I remember watching a documentary on Caddo Lake. One memorable night scene showed hundreds of water moccasins lounging in the shoreside shrubs just waiting to drop into your boat. It could have been a difficult landing. If you have ever gone fishing in the South then you know enough to approach your overturned jon boat with a paddle in your hand because overturned jon boats are a favorite haunt for moccasins. Once my older brother and I were running a trotline in the dark of the night when we suddenly accosted by one of those critters valiantly swimming straight toward our boat. We paddled a little faster and then focused our flashlight toward where he had been. He was still on our trail. We had to resort to zigzag tactics normally used by ships to avoid submarines to lose him.
Dad related the fact that when he was a young man he and some of his cousins went for a swim in an old swimming hole in the creek. They soon tired of swimming and begin to muddy the creek in an effort to catch a few fish. One of his cousins grabbed a fish behind the gills only to discover that it was not a fish but a water moccasin. The problem he faced was how to turn a very obviously angry moccasin loose. He yelled out for all to hear. “Someone come help me turn it loose!” The reponse was: “You caught it! You turn it loose!”
A decade or so ago my younger brother and I spent a week in a cabin up in the mountains just outside Denver. There were no problems until we tried to turn on the water in the well house. Something moved! Something just happened to be about a three-foot rattlesnake. It darted back into a large stack of wood that offered ample hiding opportunities. It finally took two of us to turn the water on. One to shine the flashlight and keep an eye pealed for the snake and the other to flick on the switch. When our week was up we switched off the water and left a penciled note on the door. “Beware of the rattlesnake inside the well house!” We hoped the next guests would have the same adrenaline rush that we had experienced and that they would all live to drive off into a peaceful sunset just as we were doing. As we drove off we thought all’s well that ends well!
Several years ago the residents of Haines, Alaska, were all in a dither when the remains of a garter snake were found along side a road. At least it was supposed to be a garter snake, but it had been abused by an automobile tire and was scarcely recognizable in its flattened mummified state. It was news because snakes are a rare commodity in Alaska—so rare in fact that Alaska does not have an official state snake. It does not matter that there are no snakes in the state because there are no wooly mammoths either and the wooly mammoth is the official state fossil. But if there were an official state snake it would probably have to be the flattened mummified garter snake because while a snake in that condition is not a pretty sight, it is the only snake you got!
Over the years snakes have earned a horrible reputation—partly due to the Garden of Eden mess. In recent years JK Rollins has help to perpetuate that stereotype in her Harry Potter series. But sometimes looks can be deceiving. For instance, take the garter snake. A few years ago I was in my small garden picking Kentucky Wonder pole beans. As I reached for one particular bean, it suddenly moved. It was a garter snake that was enjoying sunning itself high atop the beanpole. Probably harmless unless someone reached into the basket of beans and mistakenly tried to snap off its head. And then who knows? How do you explain to a doctor that you were bitten by a bean? Just look at those bean marks on my fingers!
Snakes love trees and boats. I remember watching a documentary on Caddo Lake. One memorable night scene showed hundreds of water moccasins lounging in the shoreside shrubs just waiting to drop into your boat. It could have been a difficult landing. If you have ever gone fishing in the South then you know enough to approach your overturned jon boat with a paddle in your hand because overturned jon boats are a favorite haunt for moccasins. Once my older brother and I were running a trotline in the dark of the night when we suddenly accosted by one of those critters valiantly swimming straight toward our boat. We paddled a little faster and then focused our flashlight toward where he had been. He was still on our trail. We had to resort to zigzag tactics normally used by ships to avoid submarines to lose him.
Dad related the fact that when he was a young man he and some of his cousins went for a swim in an old swimming hole in the creek. They soon tired of swimming and begin to muddy the creek in an effort to catch a few fish. One of his cousins grabbed a fish behind the gills only to discover that it was not a fish but a water moccasin. The problem he faced was how to turn a very obviously angry moccasin loose. He yelled out for all to hear. “Someone come help me turn it loose!” The reponse was: “You caught it! You turn it loose!”
A decade or so ago my younger brother and I spent a week in a cabin up in the mountains just outside Denver. There were no problems until we tried to turn on the water in the well house. Something moved! Something just happened to be about a three-foot rattlesnake. It darted back into a large stack of wood that offered ample hiding opportunities. It finally took two of us to turn the water on. One to shine the flashlight and keep an eye pealed for the snake and the other to flick on the switch. When our week was up we switched off the water and left a penciled note on the door. “Beware of the rattlesnake inside the well house!” We hoped the next guests would have the same adrenaline rush that we had experienced and that they would all live to drive off into a peaceful sunset just as we were doing. As we drove off we thought all’s well that ends well!
