ole sneaky snake...

Up on the homeplace today, we were putting up curtains. Honey made little wooden curtainrod holders and I was choosing long straight sticks from among those cut by Asplundh on the powerline right of way. I'd just found the perfect rod for the long window at the end of the camper, when I looked down and saw a half curl of a snake. A thick, grey-brown snake lay about 2 feet from where I stood. " I startle at both mice and snakes, but I'm not overly uspet by either of them. The three things I hate the most are bedbugs, roaches and ticks. I'll squeel at a tick, but I'll usually watch a snake with curiosity. I once had a medicine dream about a snake and since that time I've not been terribly afraid of them. Nevertheless, I thought at him, "Hey snake, you go that way and I'll go this way, right?

Snake didn't say anything. What I mean is, he didn't move, didn't raise a head to look at me or ripple or squiggle or anything snake-like. There was also no feeling of fear coming from ole sneaky snake. That spooked me, just a bit. If he wasn't startled by my presence as I was by his, he either didn't know I was there -- which wasn't likely because I had not been quiet about it, was sort of talking to the trees around there and talking outloud about what a fine stick I'd found and how it would be the prettiest curtain rod and wondering if birch was a good choice (or not). OR. He was a confident fellow, knowing his snake business so well he didn't have to make a show. I still didn't see the snake's head and there was no movement.

All this was in a few moment's time. When he didn't move, I did. Not that I was in a hurry (mind you), but I already had what I'd come into the thicket of sticks and downed trees to get and there was no point in hanging around until the snake decided to come toward me, there on that narrow ledge (where there plainly was not room for both me AND a snake).

Plus. I thought I'd love to have a picture of this guy -- the first real snake of the season if you don't count dead ones in the middle of the road.

But truly I thought this after I'd made a rather acrobatic jump down from the ledge to the road below. I went up to the truck and got the camera and came back pretty quick. But... there was no snake. There was only a very snakelike curl of a greybrown poplar limb laying right where that snake had been.

I do believe that's the sneakiest snake trick I ever saw. How very clever.