Attention and Luck – Day 297

Copperhead Visitor, top view – Photo: L. Weikel

It Pays to Pay Attention

Living near rocky outcroppings, forests, and hiking trails, Karl and I have seen a fair number of snakes. It’s sad, but most of the snakes we see are young Eastern Milk Snakes that have been squished by cars as the youngsters try to cross the road near High Rocks. Yes, I realize that sounds specific, but for all our walking, the dirt and gravel road that leads to High Rocks is unquestionably a death dealer for a lot of snakes.

The other day, Saturday to be exact, we came across a Milk Snake that we initially thought was another casualty of cars driving to High Rocks. I’m pretty vigilant about removing from the roadway any dead animals we might encounter because I don’t want carillon eaters (mostly Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures, but Crows like to grab snacks if they have a chance) getting hit while feasting.

Assist – With Caution

I say we ‘initially’ thought the snake was a casualty – but I make sure (before engaging in my shifting-the-body-to-the-berm efforts) they’re dead before messing with them. This particular Milk Snake was not discernibly squished anywhere, so I proceeded with caution (even though I was pretty sure it was a Milk Snake – and they are not venomous). With a gentle nudge of a stick, it scooted off the roadway. But I did manage to snap its photo before it headed into the grass.

I’m familiar with Milk Snakes because they resemble Northern Copperheads, which are venomous. In fact, Copperheads are the source of the most bites in Pennsylvania, although luckily, those bites are very rarely lethal – just really painful.

I say ‘just’ extremely painful – but I can assure you, I have absolutely no desire to experience such a bite.

Luck Plays a Part, Too

It turns out that Copperheads, while being the snakes that produce the most bites, do not tend to be aggressive. Rather, almost all bites are a result of a person stepping on one or accidentally touching one.

This reinforces my initial assertion that it pays to pay attention.

But I’m here to tell you that luck can go a long  way as well.

Witness this serpent I encountered yesterday: I was trudging up the hill back to our fire pit and lost my balance. At the very same moment as I struggled not to fall forward, my brain registered what I was seeing curled amongst the leaves at the very edge of the grilling area:

I’ll admit it; I freaked. I don’t know how I managed to stumble yet remain standing enough to dodge tumbling right onto it! I was lucky. That’s all I can say. Lucky that I was paying attention and lucky that my center of gravity was such that I was able to catch myself.

Move Along (Please!)

Of course, since Karl was laying another fire (and was probably freaked every bit as much as I was – because he’d been walking around very close to it and had not seen it), I felt we needed to move it. We welcome the message that serpent brings (to shed that which no longer serves us), but we didn’t need the messenger in our faces any longer than necessary!

Knowing it was alive, I found a very long branch with which to nudge it out of its slumber. It was not alarmed in the least. In fact, it hung around, basically showed me where it lives, left our company, returned a while later, allowed me to take its photograph from a couple of different angles, and then retreated again to its home amidst the massive rock wall.

Here are my photos. Theme: My September Encounter with a Copperhead:

As you can see, it was much longer than expected, based upon how deceptively compact it was curled up within the leaves!

Well, for whatever reason, I can’t get the photos to propagate the post. So…you’ll have to imagine what s/he looked like all stretched out. Maybe tomorrow!

(I had to write the paragraph above because the photos would not upload. I’ve gotten them embedded now, so those of you reading this via FB or later on my website – after those receiving this via email –  should be able to see the photos in all their…um…glory!)

(T-814)