Ssssssss

Yikes.

This was a pygmy rattlesnake, according to my Audubon guide.

Whatever it was, it was on my front porch late Tuesday evening. It was too cold for snakes and this one had made an effort to get into my house, which of course was much warmer.

Part of its tail was up under the vinyl siding. I spied it when I slipped outside in the rain and fog with a video camera in hopes of capturing images of a very large buck. The fog was such that this was pretty much a wasted effort, but I was rewarded with the snake instead. If rewarded is the right word.

I poked the snake, which was about 18 inches long, with a hoe, shivering and quivering all the while. I try very hard to love all of God's creatures, but snakes and some bugs make that difficult. I did not realize at the time that I might be dealing with a poisonous snake, although of course I always keep that in the back of my mind.

The snake was moving very slowly from the cold. But it was alive. It's little tongue flicked in and out (::shiver::) and it attempted to coil but couldn't quite make it. It's tail seemed stuck in a crack in the vinyl and it took me while to get the snake away from the house. I could tell by the way it wasn't moving that it was going to freeze soon. I felt kind of sorry for it. This reminded me of an old song from my childhood, the lyrics of which are below.

Instead of singing to the snake, I put a bucket over it and waited for Husband to come home. He dispatched of it, and I did not ask him questions as to the hows and whys of his method of disposal.