Snake Eyes

Today I did something I have never done, nor thought I ever would. I touched a snake. It was a 24 inch garter snake and I didn't really have a choice.

I was going to go to the lower park but traffic was backed up so I took a right instead of a left. We decided to follow the path the city put in after ruining access to the river - they dug up a bunch of the woods and then laid down a loosely woven plastic mesh. The mesh has been there a year and it has not broken down and I don't think it' s designed to - it catches on the dogs feet, the tread of your shoes and is pretty unsightly until the grass grows over it. I suspect it's there to prevent erosion while the grass grows in to hold the dirt.

Know what else it does? It tangles the animals who live in the woods and kills them. Raimi and I are walking down this path and he does his 'startled by a weirdness' act. He stops, looks with wide eyes, wrinkles and tippy toes and slowly backs away. I always go to see what it is so I can either torment him with it or drag him away. This time it was a snake.

I smiled thinking about Raimi's cowardice and was going to continue our walk when I noticed the snake was not leaving. It was stuck. Seriously stuck. The last third of it's body was twisted and tied to the plastic mesh which of course was attached to the ground. Twisted so badly that it had cut into its scales and was obviously in dire straits.

I debated. Having never dealt with snakes I was reluctant to interfere but knew I couldn't possibly just walk away. I also knew it was harmless and I was safe to assist. I was limited to the tools I had at my disposal, my keys, and I was in a part of the park where no one would pass by for ages. I could go back to my truck but couldn't think what was in there I could use. Thought of going back to my house to get some scissors and returning.

In the end I used my keys. The plastic mesh is fishing line thin but very weak so my first extremely tentative attempts at breaking it were successful. I got a little braver and even though I probably caused the snake more distress there was no other way to get him out. I cut away as much as I could that was holding the snake to the ground mesh and that eased the lines around his body. Gradually the pressure decreased so I could pull some line away from his scales and slide the keys underneath to cut it. I didn't actually want the ground lines cut while it was still around his body because he would slither way with it still wrapped around him. Finally it eased up completely and I cut the last of the line.

Through all this Raimi spent his time sniffing in the woods and entertaining himself and thankfully staying mostly out of my way. I can't help but smiling because the ground is littered with long thin branches the wind blows off the trees and everytime Raimi stepped close to one he jumped away like it was a snake and then did his doggy impression of "Phew." I guess it's an ingrained instinct as many snakes in Africa will kill you.

In the end the snake slithered away very slowly like he couldn't believe he was free. If he doesn't die as a result of his injuries he will likely always have that corkscrew kink in his body. Snakes are soft and smooth ... and cold. I was surprised how cold he was. I guess one might ask why it mattered since it was just one little snake. Well, the oft repeated reply of course is ... it matters to the snake.