I was talkin to my mother this morning and she was telling me she's awful worried i'm going to get bit by a snake when i'm tromping around in the woods. I told her she's probably right because for some reason snakes don't worry me too much. So i was thinking about this when i up on the hillside hand spraying the wildroses with roundup.

Soon as i went up the hill i saw what looked like two snakes all wound up, but it was only one garter snake. About 2 feet long, like the other one i saw in same place this year (maybe the same one) it didn't move. I usually let snakes be, but i thought i don't like how garter snakes will strike at you, so i stomped its head. My rubber soles must not have hurt much because it slithered off in a hurry.

Then i was going up a hill, admiring how my previous efforts of spraying the roses was really starting to take effect. They are drying out and i was just passing through spraying some sprouts. Two feet away, perpendicular with some dead vines is a shiny black snake at least 5 feet long and i tend to guess conservatively. So this snake just stays there. I been thinking all my noise and the wet spray falling will scare any snakes away. So i sprayed the snake with some round up. It just flicked its tongue and laid there. So much for that theory. If i want to rely on noise to protect me, i'll have to light some cherry bombs every 15 feet or so. Or maybe a nuclear bomb.

Out of pure kindness, i decided not to stomp this 5 footer and moved on. Kindness, right


Then i was using the ATV sprayer on the upper trail till it ran out of spray. It actually doesn't run out, it just doesn't spray the last two gallons. So i poured those into the hand sprayer and took off on foot spraying one side, then doing the other side on the return. A snake slitered across the trail on the way back. That blew another theory. I always figured if i walked there a few minutes ago, that scared any snakes into the next county. Well this snake did at least have the decency to act afraid of me. I only got a fleeting glimpse of as it whizzed past, but it seemed multicolored, had brown and white, maybe some black. I tried to part the weeds but it was gone. So, i looked up snakes of WV and the only ones that come close to that one is milksnake or cornsnake, both depicted as not existing in this county. So i don't know what kind it was, except it was going in the opposite direction, so its the kind i like best.

I've seen very few poisionous snakes and don't know how they behave. They would probably be even more confident/aggressive and really stand their ground. I'd probably have to get bit to get truly deathly afraid of them. Like a dumb animal that has to feel it to understand it. ....i do understand beestings. I'll probably meet my death someday jumping off a ladder to get away from a wasp.

Keep safe, they ARE out there. Snakes.

Plinker

Don't be stomping and spraying my little buddies . I've gotten bitten numerous times by my pet snakes (12 colubrids & boids... ratsnakes/cornsnakes/kingsnakes and boas/pythons, nothing poisonous), I don't take it out on the snake. WV probably has eastern diamondbacks, moccasins, copperheads, and maybe some timber rattlers as it's venomous snakes. An no, NA venomous snakes aren't really braver or more aggressive (moccasins are a bit aggressive), but if they can't escape, they will stand their ground.

Damn good thing that Black Mambas are scarce in West Virgina. Youren be skairt or youren be ded!

I already posted these in the Aus/NZ forum, but I'm a sucker for showing off my kids

DAD LOOK WHAT I HAVE IN THE BAG!!!!!


Now go pester someone else!

And great looking kids they ARE! Thanks for showing them. Neither seems too concerned about the snake; looks to be about 5 1/2 or 6 foot.

Plinker

What is that Mark? A black runner or rat snake?