Snake Encounters, I’ve had a Few

 

The recent death of Mercer County preacher Mack Wolford from a snakebite has raised the discussion in my inner circle over snakes.  Our radio station engineer Noel Richardson discovered a timber rattler (pictured here) lying outside the door of one of our radio transmitter facilities in Kanawha County next to the generator. 

I made a tongue in cheek reference to the fact it’s our new "transmitter security system."  A coworker had a better slogan, "Copperheads for copper thieves."   Noel left it there undisturbed and discovered it was still there on a follow up visit a week later. 

There is the now viral photo my buddy Eric McGuire recently snapped of the black rat snake (Eric argues it was a black cobra as the story is retold) peering into his sliding glass door from the deck of his home in Barbour County.  

We clearly live in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.   I’ve been fascinated by the reaction to these photos and stories.   Some of them are remarkably over-the-top.   The mere picture of a snake, venomous or not, runs chills down the spines of many.   More than a few posts on Facebook and responses on Twitter to those pictures have referenced the slogan, "the only good snake is a dead snake."

I find such attitudes unfortunate, although I must admit I was once a member of the choir singing from that hymnal.  I’m not sure where my fear of snakes first began, but I know exactly the moment it was solidified.   I was wading in the Clinch River in Virginia when I was in high school.  I stood in water about mid-thigh deep under the Speer’s Ferry Bridge carrying US Route 23 across the water.   I felt something brush my leg and looked down.  I saw between my legs and all around me the water was literally writhing.  Hundreds of tiny snakes were swimming over top of each other and constantly battering my legs.   I was petrified with fear and didn’t move a muscle.  I was physically incapable of moving–literally paralyzed.   The "snake ball" eventually moved on and no harm was done.   I harbored a deep resentment for snakes from that day forward.  

A few other notable snake experiences from my upbringing included my dearly departed grandmother. She was a fairly tiny woman, but with a hoe in her hand she was fearless when any snake entered her world.   I’ve watched her slice their heads off and move on to finishing the laundry more than once.

When my brother was just a toddler he was running through the yard barefooted one summer and stepped on the head of a snake.  He wasn’t bitten, but Grandmother decapitated the thing.   Coincidentally, our preacher was over for a visit and saw it happen.   It’s been 30-years and even today I’m told Reverend Green still works that event into a sermon now and then.

I saw more than a few snakes come through a hay bailer–amazingly some of them still alive.  My dad has no fear of anything and would simply pick them up if they were crawling and toss them off the hay wagon.   I’ve also found numerous snake skins shed in various parts of the barns and outbuildings of the farm. 

As I have grown older, I’ve taught myself to overcome my fear.   God put them here on the Earth for a reason–even the venomous ones.   They’ll strike fear into the hearts of rodents cats could only dream of causing.  

I credit DNR Biologist Frank Jernejcic for helping me get passed my hatred and fear.   Frank is an apostle of the snake protection society.  He accurately points out those snakes in the water had no idea my legs were legs.  To the snakes, they were no different than a rock or fence post.   Jernejcic says such occurrences happen often to him while fishing and snakes will bump right into his raft and move along. 

I have developed a new policy with snakes–one of peaceful coexistence.  When they get into the yard, I’ll try to herd them back into the woods or use a shovel to scoop and toss them over the hill.  When I encounter one while walking–I’ll just made a wide berth and leave it alone.    However, if one gets into the house or garage or another place where it poses what I perceive as a threat I will kill it.   

I’m not completely reformed in Frank’s eyes, but I suppose I’m a work in progress.