Snakes and ropes

[appalachianranger]

I could never hold a snake like that but I must say that is a beautiful specimen!

[Aaron]

Grew up around all kinds of snakes, mostly rat snakes and a few ball pythons here and there. As for rat snakes I've owned red (dozens of reds...), a half dozen or so yellow, and most recently a black rat snake.

Usually the red rat snakes we pick up off the road when we see them, keep them for a couple of weeks and relocate them to a safer place for them (state part about a mile from my doorstep). Just caught a red rat snake today, actually. No pics, let that one go in my back yard. Hopefully he'll take care of the rats I've been seeing lately.

[Erhilir]

The snake I hold in the picture is the greek Lafiatis (Elaphe quatuorlineata) is a non-poisonous snake that mostly eats rats, mice and small birds. It is completely harmless for humen.

[Eric C]

Elyon and I spent the night at a local state park. We went to a little beach on the lake to try to fish. Well, I saw a stick on the ground that reminded me enough of a snake that I had to look twice. While I was admiring the stick and telling the lad about it, I looked onto the root ball of a fallen tree at the water's edge and saw a water moccasin sunning itself there and hoping we wouldn't see/bother it. We didn't. We also didn't fish there. In this part of NC, there are mainly two venomous snakes: The cotton mouthed water moccasin and the copperhead.

[Ringulf]

Both of which are rather "grumpy".
Though I took a small copperhead out of the garage the other day by gently supporting his tail end about a third of the way up his body. I thought at first he was another type of snake and his size served to placate me into a false sense of security.
I eased him into a nearby clump of bushes with out a problem at all but when I got a look at his head I was very releaved we were both having a good day.
Had I known what he was right off I would have used a stick in conjunction with the tail support to keep him from turning on me.
I have been much more careful lately to identify before getting too friendly.

[Eric C]

It scares the daylights out of you when you realize how close you were to death without knowing it.

[Ringulf]

Well they say the Lord watches over drunks and fools...and since I have not been drinking...

But I love the paraphrase from the Havamal that Herger the Joyous tells "Little Brother" right before the first Vendol attack, in the 13th Warrior:

The Allfather wove the skein of your life a long time ago...
Go and hide in a hole if you wish,
but you will not live one instant longer!
Your fate is fixed!
Fear profits a man nothing!

Equally true for the Christian, Muslum, Jew or Pegan.

(Though fear profits a man nothing, this does not refer to caution, wisdom or common sense)