Sssssssnake's Snakes

DeKay's or Brown Snake.

My Dad found him under a rock when I was about 6 years old. We put him in a pail and covered it by a board. In the morning, when I checked on him, he was gone!

Since then I've been facinated by snakes.

This little guy can move into just about any ecosystem without endangering anything important.

They are almost impossible to raise in captivity, but catch 'em and let them go in the nearest woods, and they will multiply as long as they don't have too many predators.

They work well to remove other irritating pests, too.

His favorite food is earthworms, so he's competition for the ecosystem, but, tolerable, and they don't breed excessively.

This was also the FIRST snake to ever bite me!

I had been raising snakes ever since I was about 9 years old, and had vicious water snakes, black racers, and rat snakes, as well as more tame brown snakes, ribbon snakes, garter snakes, green snakes and the like. I handled them freely, fed them, and was NEVER bitten (though they DID bite my teachers -- once quite badly! -- and my friends).

I guess the snakes were in tune with me, or I with them.

Then on May 9th, 1968, I was going out on minesweep in VietNam. I was point, and I saw a small ring-neck snake crossing the road. Naturally I picked it up to show it to the other guys, and the thing turned around and BIT me! I was SHOCKED!

I let it go into the bushes on the side of the road and told the guys that I thought it was an omen, that snakes never bit me, and it was trying to warn us of something -- that we were going to get it good that day (most minesweeps turned up negative).

The guys laughed at me, and the more I insisted, the more I was told to shut up. Then our mine detectors started breaking down, and I told Sarge "I told you so..." As a reward he put me in the last position in line, where they couldn't hear me.

It was shortly after that, after all the mine detectors had passed a point, that I looked down at the ground and just "knew" a mine was there (I have some ESP). I told Sarge to hold up, and he said, "Oh what is it NOW?"

I walked over to the spot, scraped the surface soil off, and there was a mine.

In all we came across ten mines that day. We backed up the track support behind us and checked before, but the one I found was the first in the road.

Me and my little buddy the ring-neck snake saved a bunch of lives that day. I owe him.

Incidently, since that day snakes have bitten me. I guess I lost my innocence.