38. Running
Rings
Standard summer snake hunting road
trip, i.e. dark.
Tram road, running southeast off
Capital Circle to Wassissa, was sandy dust for most of its length (paved closer
to Wassissa). This had the most excellent feature of recording the tracks of
crossing snakes which, at a minimum, gave a quick fix on general snake
activity. At a maximum it indicated how long ago the snake crossed (time of
last passing car and whether or not there were tire marks over the snake
track), the direction the snake was going and some idea of species. We actually caught a few just off the road.
At night, however, the tracks were
hard to see and the unfolding adventure was, in the event, on the paved part.
In the truck headlights it looked
like a long row of small shower curtain rings racing across the road from left
to right. Johnson and I knew one thing and concluded another. First, we had never
before seen anything that looked like that and second…….coral snake.
The snake hit the thatch just off the
road and mostly disappeared to the point that at one point my foot was on him.
I was armed with a hoe snake stick, i.e. a regular hoe with the blade knocked
off leaving a strong metal hook on the end of a long, apx. 1.5 inch diameter,
wooded handle (keep this material and dimension in mind). A particularly good
instrument for flipping over big/heavy things or digging around in the flat dry
grass for a coral snake.
While the play by play is a blur,
three key elements of the battle are with me forever. First, and I’m not
exactly sure how I ended up with the wrong end of the snake stick near the
snake, he bite the hoe handle with sufficient enthusiasm to be suspended BY HIS
MOUTH ALONE from the handle about three feet off the ground! The point here is
that the story was around that a coral snake, because of his small mouth, could
only bite you in the area between your fingers. Forget that Jack. I think he
could bite you on the flat palm of your hand.
Second, apparently having gotten the
snake off the hoe handle and suspended by the hook, it was the snappiest snake
I had ever seen. A snake on a snake stick generally keeps his mouth shut. This
character was grabbing at thin air apparently bent on getting a hold of
anything.
And third, I don’t remember if we got
him into a snake bag or a big plastic jar but I do remember the brief exchange
after things settled down. With few words Johnson and I agreed that we’d been
taking some serious risks. But it was the first coral snake for both of us and
fortunately not the last. Still “let’s be careful out there” boys and girls.
ML 19 Jun 2018
