Saturday, June 03, 2006
snake rescue drama
Bill and I were driving through the busy area between Raleigh and Garner this afternoon, in search of a late lunch and large straw hats (for harvesting canola and gardening). Right past the 70/401 split a large rat snake was just slithering off the median and into traffic. The car ahead of us swerved to avoid the snake, and the driver obviously considered stopping but then probably decided it was safer to drive on. Bill was driving (fortunately) and swerved also, then stopped our car and jumped out.
The snake was (naturally) quite agitated at this point and was striking out at the car.
Bill quickly grabbed his tail and lifted him (he normally would never manhandle a snake this way, but the snake's chnaces were zippo without help - he was headed across four lanes of heavy traffic), then opened the back door of the car. I realised there were really no options, but I wasn't too fond of the idea of an angry, four-foot long snake in the backseat.
The snake quickly dug in in the back seat as Bill hoped back in and started driving. Whole rescue: about 15 seconds (and some jerk had the audacity to HONK!).
So here we were with an angry, scared snake in the back. When Bill picked him up, the snake 'skunked' him, so Bill's hands reeked. I figured we'd drop him off someplace pretty quickly, but Bill wanted just the -right- spot - it had to have some water nearby, trees, and very limited road access (i.e. a deadend at the end of a longish gravel road). So off we went on a tour of lovely Johnston County :) We went down one road after another, finding none just suitable. Meanwhile, the combination of snake-musk smell, country-road driving, cramps, hunger, and a serious caffeine withdrawl headdache combined to make me almost unbearably carsick. None of this was helped by the fact that, while I like snakes in my mind, my body is really creeped out by them, and I kept imagining the snake slithering under my seat or over the back of my seat, or around the side of my seat... well, I think you can get the picture. I rode with my feet on the dashboard, looking back every five seconds. (Later, Bill looked back and saw the snake pressed against the back door on his side and once I could see it there and not moving I was calmer).
After about 35 mins of driving around, we finally realised that we'd take much longer finding a place by random chance than by just going to a great place we knew, about 1.4 mile from our house. So we went there and let him out. I snapped a couple of shots with my phone, but I wish I'd had my other camera - it was really quite a lovely snake, with yellowish coloring on his belly. Amazingly, he seemed completely unharmed by the experience - we were afriad he had already been hit. If we had just passed by, he would certainly have been toast. Very dramatic rescue! I wish I'd had a better role than just whining for much of the time, but I did contribute by flicking on the hazard lights when we stopped and now by documenting the experience, so maybe I've redeemed myself somewhat :)
¶ 9:02 PM 
Bill and I were driving through the busy area between Raleigh and Garner this afternoon, in search of a late lunch and large straw hats (for harvesting canola and gardening). Right past the 70/401 split a large rat snake was just slithering off the median and into traffic. The car ahead of us swerved to avoid the snake, and the driver obviously considered stopping but then probably decided it was safer to drive on. Bill was driving (fortunately) and swerved also, then stopped our car and jumped out.The snake was (naturally) quite agitated at this point and was striking out at the car.
Bill quickly grabbed his tail and lifted him (he normally would never manhandle a snake this way, but the snake's chnaces were zippo without help - he was headed across four lanes of heavy traffic), then opened the back door of the car. I realised there were really no options, but I wasn't too fond of the idea of an angry, four-foot long snake in the backseat.The snake quickly dug in in the back seat as Bill hoped back in and started driving. Whole rescue: about 15 seconds (and some jerk had the audacity to HONK!).
So here we were with an angry, scared snake in the back. When Bill picked him up, the snake 'skunked' him, so Bill's hands reeked. I figured we'd drop him off someplace pretty quickly, but Bill wanted just the -right- spot - it had to have some water nearby, trees, and very limited road access (i.e. a deadend at the end of a longish gravel road). So off we went on a tour of lovely Johnston County :) We went down one road after another, finding none just suitable. Meanwhile, the combination of snake-musk smell, country-road driving, cramps, hunger, and a serious caffeine withdrawl headdache combined to make me almost unbearably carsick. None of this was helped by the fact that, while I like snakes in my mind, my body is really creeped out by them, and I kept imagining the snake slithering under my seat or over the back of my seat, or around the side of my seat... well, I think you can get the picture. I rode with my feet on the dashboard, looking back every five seconds. (Later, Bill looked back and saw the snake pressed against the back door on his side and once I could see it there and not moving I was calmer).
After about 35 mins of driving around, we finally realised that we'd take much longer finding a place by random chance than by just going to a great place we knew, about 1.4 mile from our house. So we went there and let him out. I snapped a couple of shots with my phone, but I wish I'd had my other camera - it was really quite a lovely snake, with yellowish coloring on his belly. Amazingly, he seemed completely unharmed by the experience - we were afriad he had already been hit. If we had just passed by, he would certainly have been toast. Very dramatic rescue! I wish I'd had a better role than just whining for much of the time, but I did contribute by flicking on the hazard lights when we stopped and now by documenting the experience, so maybe I've redeemed myself somewhat :)
¶ 9:02 PM
