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I was out for a little while this evening, and the sun went down before I returned to my house. The street on which I live features no street lights, save for the dull glow of a sign in front of a Pentecostal church up the road a piece. I don't mind that it's usually deep and dark down here, though it is a little extra gloomy tonight because of the very thick cloud cover overhead. So I got out of my car, walked up to my outer gate and fumbled while unlocking it in the darkness. And as I did this, I briefly felt something touch the back of my hand very lightly. This touch was dry and feathery, and for an instant I thought that it was just a drafty puff of air that only moved the hair on my hand. But at the same time I also wondered how this could be, since the the air tonight is deathly still.
I shrugged-- whatever. And by the time I finished shruggin', I had also managed to unlock the gate. I then stepped through. While closing it, however, I noticed that there was something that looked somewhat like a necklace, or perhaps a bracelet, laced through the cast iron bars of the gate-- half-draped above the keyhole of the deadbolt.
Cool beans! I figured that this yet another gift of the sort that certain people occasionally leave at my gate. I've found all kinds of stuff out there... mardi gras beads, candles, cigarettes, tiny bottles of liquor, dove feathers tied together with red and black string, crucifixes, and so forth. I have also found religious tracts that warn me of an appointment with perdition I am said to be facing, folded and crammed into the gap between the gate and its frame. Theology is a wonderful thing, and I have some very interesting friends...
And so grinning, I stepped forth, unlocked my front door, and reached inside to flip on the porch lights. After that, I turned to have a look at the latest offering and found that it was not a necklace, but was instead a live pygmy rattlesnake.
Look how wrong you can be!
EDIT: I have it on good authority that this is NOT a pygmy rattlesnake, as I originally thought!
I had to laugh; you know, this is the second time I've had a close encounter with a pygmy rattlesnake in which I went without being struck. The first was when I let one crawl onto my hand from a bush, checked him out for a few minutes, and then put my hand down into the bush so he could crawl off and go do whatever he was gonna do before I picked him up. At that point another guy came over to ask what I was doing, and I pointed out the pretty little snake in the bushes. That's when I found out that I had been fondling a pygmy rattler. I was new to Florida back then, and had never seen one before.
Tonight I had no particular urge to go back and pick up ol' Jake the Snake, even though I'm sure that a couple of the more radical members of the Pentecostal church up the street would have cheered me on. However, I figured that Jake was probably happy enough right where he was, and felt no particular urge to test the Almighty to begin with. I did go fetch my camera to get a few shots of the old boy, the best of which appears above. As you can see, he's a cute little fellow, unlike his more drably-mantled local cousin, the surly cottonmouth moccasin.
And so I wished him good luck at hunting, and bid him a fond farewell. The tree frogs and lizards are quiet tonight, but with any luck he'll find one anyway. I'm way too big to eat, and that's why he passed me by.
--R
I shrugged-- whatever. And by the time I finished shruggin', I had also managed to unlock the gate. I then stepped through. While closing it, however, I noticed that there was something that looked somewhat like a necklace, or perhaps a bracelet, laced through the cast iron bars of the gate-- half-draped above the keyhole of the deadbolt.
Cool beans! I figured that this yet another gift of the sort that certain people occasionally leave at my gate. I've found all kinds of stuff out there... mardi gras beads, candles, cigarettes, tiny bottles of liquor, dove feathers tied together with red and black string, crucifixes, and so forth. I have also found religious tracts that warn me of an appointment with perdition I am said to be facing, folded and crammed into the gap between the gate and its frame. Theology is a wonderful thing, and I have some very interesting friends...
And so grinning, I stepped forth, unlocked my front door, and reached inside to flip on the porch lights. After that, I turned to have a look at the latest offering and found that it was not a necklace, but was instead a live pygmy rattlesnake.
Look how wrong you can be! EDIT: I have it on good authority that this is NOT a pygmy rattlesnake, as I originally thought!
I had to laugh; you know, this is the second time I've had a close encounter with a pygmy rattlesnake in which I went without being struck. The first was when I let one crawl onto my hand from a bush, checked him out for a few minutes, and then put my hand down into the bush so he could crawl off and go do whatever he was gonna do before I picked him up. At that point another guy came over to ask what I was doing, and I pointed out the pretty little snake in the bushes. That's when I found out that I had been fondling a pygmy rattler. I was new to Florida back then, and had never seen one before.
Tonight I had no particular urge to go back and pick up ol' Jake the Snake, even though I'm sure that a couple of the more radical members of the Pentecostal church up the street would have cheered me on. However, I figured that Jake was probably happy enough right where he was, and felt no particular urge to test the Almighty to begin with. I did go fetch my camera to get a few shots of the old boy, the best of which appears above. As you can see, he's a cute little fellow, unlike his more drably-mantled local cousin, the surly cottonmouth moccasin.
And so I wished him good luck at hunting, and bid him a fond farewell. The tree frogs and lizards are quiet tonight, but with any luck he'll find one anyway. I'm way too big to eat, and that's why he passed me by.
--R
